University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR— U.  S.  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 

.1.  \vr. 


WATER  SUPPLY  FOR  IRRIGATION 


ITAYNKS 


KXTU.U'T  FIIOM    THF.  T 


L  KKl'OKT  OF  TIIIC  DlKKCTuK,  IX'U   '(V 


\V  ASHING  T  O  N 

KN^IKNT    IMMXTINd    OFFICE 

IS!)  | 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR-U.  S.  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 


WATER  SUPPLY  FOE  IRRIGATION. 

By  FREDERICK   HAYNES   NEWELL. 


m  fiANGRoi  T  t  fun 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Introduction 7 

Preceding  reports 7 

Area  irrigated 8 

Area  irrigable 9 

Size  of  streams 10 

Relative  run-off 13 

Fluctuations  of  rivers  and  lakes 15 

Nonperiodic  oscillations 18 

Variations  in  precipitation 25 

Subsurface  waters 28 

Cost  and  value  of  water  supply 30 

Principal  drainage  basins 31 

Missouri  river  basin 34 

Location  and  area 34 

Elevation  and  topography 35 

Land  classification 35 

Extent  of  irrigation 36 

Water  measurements 38 

Precipitation 39 

Gallatin  river.  .*. 41 

Madison  river 46 

Jefferson  river 49 

Missouri  valley 53 

Prickly  Pear  valley 54 

Dearborn  and  Sun  rivers 55 

Chestnut  valley  and  Smith  river 57 

Teton  and  Marias  rivers 59 

Judith  and  Musselshell  rivers 60 

Milk  river 62 

Yellowstone  river  basin 63 

Location - 63 

Area  and  topography 64 

Area  irrigated 65 

Water  measurements 65 

Precipitation 67 

Yellowstone  river,  above  Bighorn 68 

Bighorn  river 69 

Tongue  river 70 

Powder  river 71 

Lower  Yellowstone  river 72 

Platte  river  basin 73 

Location  and  area 73 

Elevation  and  topography 74 

3 


A::  :-li'i 


4  CONTENTS. 

Paga 

Platte  river  basin — Continued. 

Land  classification 75 

Extent  of  irrigation 75 

Water  measurements 76 

Precipitation 76 

Upper  North  Platte 78 

Laramie  river 79 

Lower  North  Platte 81 

South  Platte,  above  Denver 82 

Cache  la  Poudre  and  other  creeks 86 

South  Platte,  below  Greeley 90 

Tables  of  mean  monthly  and  annual  discharge 91 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page. 

PLATE  CVIII.  Map  of  the  drainage  basin  of  the  Missouri  river  in  Montana. . .  34 

CIX.  Map  of  the  drainage  basin  of  the  Yellowstone  river 64 

CX.  Map  of  the  drainage  basin  of  the  Platte  river 74 

FIG.       42.  Diagram  of  maximum,  minimum,  and  mean  discharges  of  western 

rivers 11 

43.  Diagram  of  discharges  of  large  rivers  of  the  United  States 12 

44.  Diagram  showing  relative  size  of  drainage  basins  and  depth  of 

run-off 13 

45.  Diagram  of  periodic  oscillations  of  water  level 17 

46.  Diagram  of  uonperiodic  oscillations  of  various  rivers  and  lakes..  21 

47.  Diagram  of  nonperiodic  oscillations  of  Colorado,  King,  and  San 

Joaquin  rivers 22 

48.  Diagram  showing  comparison  of  nonperiodic  oscillations  of  the 

Great  Lakes  with  Great  Salt  lake 22 

49.  Diagram  of  nonperiodic  oscillations  of  the  Great  Lakes 23 

50.  Diagram  of  the  distribution  of  the  mean  monthly  precipitation 

at  sixteen  stations  in  western  United  States 27 

51.  Index  map  of  large  drainage  basins 32 

52.  Diagram  of  mean  monthly  rainfall  at  four  stations  in  the  Missouri 

basin 40 

53.  Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  West  Gallatin  river  below  Spanish 

creek,  Montana 43 

54.  Diagram  of   daily  discharge  of  Madison  river  near  Red  Bluff, 

Montaaa 48 

55.  Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  Missouri  river  at  Craig,  Montana..  58 

56.  Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  Yellowstone  river  near  Horr,  Mon- 

tana    66 

57.  Diagram  of  daily  fluctuations  of  North  Platte  river,  Wyoming 83 

58.  Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  South  Platte  river  near  Deans- 

bury,  Colorado 84 

59.  Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  South  Platte  river  at  Denver,  Colo- 

rado    85 

60.  Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  Clear  creek,  Colorado 86 

61.  Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  North  Boulder  creek,  Colorado 87 

62.  Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  St.  Vrain  creek,  Colorado 88 

63.  Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  Big  Thompson  creek,  Colorado 89 


WATER  SUPPLY  FOR  IRRIGATION. 


BY  F.  H.  NEWELL. 


INTRODUCTION. 

This  report  is  the  fourth  in  a  series,  each  one  of  which  relates  to  a 
certain  extent  to  the  hydrography  of  the  arid  regions,  viz,  to  facts  con- 
cerning the  quantity  and  distribution  of  water.  Since  these  papers 
give  the  results  obtained  at  various  stages  of  progress,  the  one  which 
is  issued  last  must  necessarily  refer  to  data  previously  published,  and 
perhaps  repeat  or  modify  some  of  the  former  statements.  Before  enter- 
ing upon  the  subject-matter  of  this  paper  reference  should  be  made  to 
the  preceding  discussions,  which  are  contained,  respectively,  in  the  first, 
second,  and  third  annual  reports  of  the  Irrigation  Survey,  these  being 
also  known  as  parts  n  of  the  Tenth,  Eleventh,  and  Twelfth  Annual  Ee- 
ports  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 

PRECEDING  REPORTS. 

In  the  first  annual  report  of  the  Irrigation  Survey,  on  page  19, 
a  description  is  given  of  the  organization  of  this  branch  of  the  work, 
and  on  pages  78  to  90  Capt.  C.  E.  Button  reports  upon  the  methods 
of  the  investigation  and  briefly  describes  a  few  of  the  results  then 
obtained.  In  the  second  report,  on  pages  1  to  110,  are  given  more  de- 
tailed descriptions  of  methods  and  instruments,  and  also  of  the  local- 
ities at  which  stream  measurements  have  been  made,  the  character  of 
each  drainage  basin  being  briefly  noted.  The  results  of  stream  meas- 
urements are  also  shown  in  tabular  form  convenient  for  reference. 

The  third  animal  report  of/-the  Irrigation  Survey  continues  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  subject  of  water  supply  or  hydrography  of  the  arid 
regions,  and  gives  the  results  of  measurements  and  investigations 
obtained  during  the  fiscal-year  ending  June  30, 1891.  General  descrip- 
tions are  also  given  of  the  topographic  and  other  features  of  some  of 
the  drainage  basins,  the  discussion  of  the  Eio  Grande  and  Gila  basins 
being  particularly  detailed.  The  present  report,  continuing  in  a  line 
similar  to  that  pursued  in  the  cases  of  the  drainage  basins  just  men- 
tioned, describes  with  equal  fullness  other  of  the  more  important  basins, 
and  brings  together  all  available  information  bearing  upon  the  water 

supply. 

7 


8  WATER    SUPPLY    FOR   IRRIGATION. 

AEEA  IRRIGATED. 

The  total  area  upon  which  crops  were  raised  by  irrigation  was,  accord- 
ing to  the  results  obtained  by  the  Eleventh  Census,  3,631,381  acres,  or 
5,674.03  square  miles.  This  applies  to  the  year  ending  May  31, 1890,  the 
census  being  taken  during  the  following  June.  Comparing  this  area 
with  the  total  land  surface  west  of  the  one  hundredth  meridian,  it  is 
found  to  be  approximately  only  four-tenths  of  1  per  cent.  In  other 
words,  for  every  acre  from  which  crops  were  obtained  by  irrigation 
there  were  nearly  250  acres  of  land  most  of  which  was  not  utilized  in 
any  way  except  for  pasturage. 

The  area  of  the  land  surface  of  the  United  States  west  of  the  one 
hundredth  meridian  and  between  it  and  the  Pacific  ocean  is  1,371,960 
square  miles,  not  including  thirty-six  counties  of  western  Oregon  and 
Washington.  Within  this  great  extent  of  country  are  nearly  all  possi- 
ble combinations  of  soil  and  climate,  ranging  from  the  smooth,  almost 
barren,  plains  with  scanty  vegetation  to  the  high  rough  mountains,  the 
peaks  covered  throughout  the  year  with  snow  and  the  slopes  clothed 
with  thick  forests.  In  a  broad  way  four  great  classes  of  land  may  be 
distinguished,  according  to  the  amount  of  moisture  received  or  the 
water  supply  available,  as  shown  principally  by  the  character  of  the 
vegetation. 

The  following  table  gives  approximately  the  amount  of  land  embraced 
in  each  of  these  great  classes : 

Square  miles. 
Desert 100, 000 

Pasture 961, 960 

Firewood 180, 000 

Timber 130, 000 


Total 1,  371,  960 

The  desert  laud  is  that  within  which  the  water  supply  is  so  small 
that  the  cattle  can  not  obtain  sufficient  for  drinking  purposes,  and  the 
vegetation  is  too  scanty  or  uncertain  to  be  of  value  for  pasturage.  The 
soil  is  often  rich,  and  with  water  would  produce  large  crops. 

The  second  class  embraces  all  the  Great  Plain  region,  which,  owing  to 
the  prevailing  aridity,  is  useful  mainly  as  pasturage.  The  localities  at 
which  agriculture  is  possible  are  relatively  of  insignificant  size,  although 
of  great  importance  in  a  grazing  country.  This  class  also  includes  the 
valley  lands  within  the  Kocky  Mountain  region  and  the  rolling  hills,  on 
which  native  grasses  grow. 

The  land  containing  firewood  is  mainly  that  fringing  the  timbered 
areas,  being  intermediate  in  character  between  the  pasture  land  and  the 
high  rough  forested  slopes  or  plateaus.  It  includes  also  the  precipi- 
tous hillsides  found  at  an  elevation  too  low  to  receive  a  large  or  con- 
stant supply  of  moisture,  which  in  general  falls  upon  the  more  heavily 
timbered  areas. 

The  fourth  class  embraces  the  forested  areas  upon  the  high  moun- 


NEWELL.]  AREA    IRRIGABLE.  9 

tains,  where  the  conditions  are  such  that  trees  have  been  able  to  attain 
a  size  suitable  for  timber.  A  large  part  of  this  area  has  been  burned 
over  at  different  times,  destroying  timber  whose  value  to  the  country 
can  scarcely  be  estimated,  and  a  relatively  small  number  of  the  trees 
have  been  cut  for  lumber,  to  supply  the  growing  needs  of  the  settlers. 
The  existence  of  this  timber,  however,  indicates  a  condition  of  climate 
and  soil  widely  different  from  that  prevailing  over  the  plains  or  pasture 
lands. 

The  irrigated  and  irrigable  lands  are  mainly  included  within  those 
divisions  which  in  their  natural  state  are  considered  as  desert  or  pas- 
ture lands.  In  a  broad  way  it  may  be  said  that  fully  nine-tenths  of  this 
area  is  covered  with  a  fertile  arable  soil,  which  only  lacks  sufficient 
moisture  in  order  to  be  of  great  value  for  agriculture.  Out  of  this  total 
of,  in  round  numbers,  over  610,000,000  acres  there  have  been,  accord- 
ing to  the  census,  3,631,381  acres,  or  less  than  six-tenths  of  one  per  cent, 
provided  with  a  water  supply  sufficient  to  enable  crops  to  be  raised. 

AREA  IRRIGABLE. 

The  proportion  of  this  desert  or  pasture  land  which  can  be  brought 
under  irrigation  in  future  is  dependent  upon  the  thoroughness  with 
which  the  water  supply  is  utilized.  It  is  obvious  at  the  outset,  how- 
ever, that  this  proportion  must  be  small,  probably  under  3  per  cent,  but 
its  exact  amount  can  be  determined  only  when  the  available  waters  of 
the  region  have  been  accurately  measured.  This  simple  fact,  namely, 
that  the  area  irrigable  is  governed  by  the  amount  of  water  flowing  in 
the  streams,  at  various  times  of  the  year,  is  often  overlooked  or  for- 
gotten in  popular  discussions  of  the  subject. 

The  greater  part  of  the  available  water  supply  comes  from  the  high 
mountains  with  precipitous  slopes,  a  less  quantity  being  discharged 
from  foothills,  and  a  still  smaller  quantity,  irregular  in  time  of  occur- 
rence, from  valleys  or  plains.  The  results  of  measurements  have  shown 
that  the  average  amount  of  water,  taking  one  year  with  another,  is 
seldom  greater  than  1  cubic  foot  per  second  or  second-foot  per  square 
mile  of  elevated  and  steep  catchment  area.  The  total  catchment  of 
this  character  within  the  area  under  discussion  has  been  ascertained 
to  be  360,000  square  miles.  This  includes  the  greater  part  of  the  areas 
designated  as  being  covered  by  timber  and  firewood.  From  the  remain- 
ing land,  namely,  the  pasture  and  desert,  there  is  very  little  water 
available  for  irrigation.  Although  there  is  a  large  amount  of  water 
falling  upon  these  tracts,  yet  the  conditions  are  such  that  streams  val- 
uable to  agriculture  are  seldom  formed,  for  the  greater  part  of  the 
moisture  either  sinks  into  the  ground  and  is  subsequently  lost  by  evap- 
oration, or,  when  coming  in  heavy  showers,  flows  off  in  the  streams 
whose  beds  are  nearly  or  quite  dry  for  the  rest  of  the  year,  and  thus  is 
plentiful  only  at  times  when  there  is  no  need  of  irrigation. 


10  WATER  SUPPLY  FOR  IRRIGATION. 

Assuming  that  there  is  an  average  annual  discharge  of  one  second- 
foot  from  each  of  the  360,000  square  miles,  the  total  amount  of  water 
available  for  the  supply  of  the  610,000,000  acres  of  pasture  and  desert 
lands  above-mentioned  ie  360,000  second-feet.  Much  of  this  water  ? 
however,  escapes  into  large  rivers  which  have  cut  their  channels  so  far 
beneath  the  general  level  of  the  arable  lands  that  the  waters  can  not 
be  diverted,  and  therefore  they  must  be  considered  as  lost  to  agricul- 
ture. This  is  notably  the  case  with  many  rivers  in  the  drainage  basin 
of  the  Colorado  river,  also  to  a  great  degree  in  that  of  the  Columbia. 
The  total  amount  available  for  irrigation  is  therefore  to  be  diminished 
by  the  quantity  lost  iu  this  manner. 

The  amount  of  water  which  can  be  saved  by  storage  systems  in  the 
undulating  and  hilly  country,  or  utilized  by  the  conservation  of  water 
from  springs  or  flowing  wells,  is  a  quantity  even  more  uncertain  than 
that  flowing  from  the  mountains,  for  in  this  case  there  are  few  general 
facts  of  broad  application.  It  may  be  assumed,  however,  that  this 
amount  will  not  exceed  the  quantity  lost  in  deep  drainage  channels, 
such  as  those  of  the  Colorado  and  Columbia  systems.  Taking,  there- 
fore, the  whole  amount  of  water  available  in  the  arid  region  as  360,000 
second-feet,  the  area  of  land  which  can  be  irrigated  can  be  approxi- 
mately ascertained  by  assuming  a  standard  duty  of  water.  If,  for  ex- 
ample, 1  second-foot  flowing  throughout  the  year  will  irrigate  100  acres, 
then  the  total  irrigable  area  is  approximately  36,000,000  acres,  or  about 
ten  times  that  upon  which  crops  were  raised  by  irrigation  in  the  census 
year.  With  an  average  water  duty  of  150  acres  to  the  second-foot,  the 
area  irrigable  will  be  54,000,000  acres,  and  so  on,  according  to  the  duty 
of  water  assumed. 

SIZE   OF   STREAMS. 

The  relative  amount  of  water  discharged  by  various  rivers  of  impor- 
tance to  irrigation  is  shown  by  the  diagram,  Fig.  42,  which  gives  at  a 
glance  the  size  of  these  streams  at  times  of  high  and  low  water,  and 
also  the  average  for  one  or  two  years  or  more.  From  this  diagram  may 
be  inferred  the  acreage  which  possjbly  can  be  irrigated  by  each  of  these 
streams  by  assuming  a  standard  duty  of  water.  In  this  figure  the 
names  of  the  rivers  are  given  in  the  space  to  the  left,  and  to  the  right 
of  each  of  these  is  a  bar  whose  length  indicates  the  quantity  of  water 
in  the  stream.  The  vertical  lines  give  the  quantity  in  cubic  feet  per 
second.  For  example,  in  the  case  of  the  first  stream,  the  West  Galla- 
tin,  the  bar  almost  reaches  the  4,000  line,  indicating  that  the  discharge 
fell  under  this  amount,  while  in  the  case  of  the  Missouri  it  was  over 
16,000.  The  black  portion  of  the  bar,  by  its  length,  indicates  the  mini- 
mum discharge  of  the  stream  for  the  time  during  which  measurements 
were  made,  while  the  shaded  portion,  including  the  black,  shows  the 
average  discharge.  The  total  length  of  the  bar,  including  the  black, 
cross-hatched,  and  unshaded  portions,  indicates  the  maximum  discharge. 


NEWELL.] 


SIZE    OP    STREAMS. 


11 


In  the  case  of  two  of  the  streams  shown  in  this  diagram,  the  maxi- 
mum discharge  exceeds  the  amount  which  can  be  shown  on  the  sheet, 
that  of  the  Salt  being  300,000  second-feet,  requiring  to  show  it  a  dia- 
gram containing  seventeen  times  the  space  allowed  on  Fig.  42,  and  in 


IHscharge  in  second-feet. 


Weiser 

(1)  at  Del  Norte,  Colo. ;  (2)  at  Embudo,  N".  Hex. ;  (3)  at  El  Paso,  Tex. ;  (4)  at  Battle  Creek,  Idaho;  (5)  at 

Colliiiston,  Utah. 

FIG.  42. — Diagram  of  maximum,  minimum,  and  mean  discharges  of  western  rivers. 

the  case  of  the  Snake  50,000  second-feet,  or  about  three  times  the  allot- 
ted space.  In  order  to  make  a  comparison  between  the  streams  of  the 
arid  region  and  some  well-known  rivers  in  the  east,  a  second  diagram, 


12 


WATER    SUPPLY   FOR    IRRIGATION. 


Fig.  43,  is  introduced,  showing  similar  facts,  the  scale,  however,  being 
much  smaller.  The  relative  change  in  scale  can  be  seen  by  comparing 
the  small  space  opposite  the  words  "Upper  Missouri"  in  Fig.  43  with 
the  length  of  the  line  representing  the  same  quantity  in  Fig.  42,  this 
latter  being  the  third  line  or  bar  from  the  top.  In  Fig.  43  the  flood 
discharges  of  the  Snake  river  at  Idaho  Falls,  Idaho,  and  of  the  Salt 
river  above  Phoenix,  Arizona,  are  shown  in  their  relative  proportions, 
the  mean  discharges  being,  however,  scarcely  perceptible  on  this 
diagram.  The  computations  of  discharge  of  Sacramento  river  apply  to 

Discharge  in  second-feet. 


Name  of  river 
Upper  Missouri. 

Snake 


Salt 


Sacramento 


Connecticut 


Potomac 


Savannah 


Missouri 


Upper  Mississippi. . . 


Ohio 


FIG.  43. — Diagram  of  discharges  of  large  rivers  of  the  United  States. 

the  total  outflow  as  determined  by  the  state  engineer  of  California. 
The  remaining  streams  shown  on  Fig.  43,  those  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  country,  were  measured  by  officers  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  U.  S. 
Army,  except  in  the  case  of  the  Potomac,  where  gaugings  were  made 
by  this  Survey.  The  quantities  shown  on  the  diagram  apply  to  the 
total  discharge.  The  amount  of  water  in  the  Mississippi  at  a  point 
below  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  would  be  represented  by  combining  the 
three  lines  or  bars  at  the  bottom  of  the  diagram.  These  three  sets  of 
values  there  shown,  namely,  for  the  Missouri,  Upper  Mississippi,  and 
Ohio,  represent  strictly  the  discharges  for  the  year  1882  only. 


NEWELL.] 


DEPTH    OF   WATER   DRAINED. 


13 


RELATIVE   RUN-OFF. 

The  run-off,  or  quantity  of  water  discharged  per  unit  of  area  of  the 
drainage  basin,  is  exceedingly  variable,  being  dependent  upon  the  to- 
pography and  climate  of  the  drainage  basin,  each  of  these  embracing 
too  many  details  to  be  enumerated  in  full.  The  difference  in  quantity 
is  illustrated  by  Fig.  44,  which  shows  in  a  diagramatic  form  the  relative 
size  of  the  basins  drained  and  the  amount  of  water  flowing  from  them 
in  the  course  of  the  year.  Each  circle  in  this  diagram  represents  by 
its  size  the  area  of  the  drainage  basin  named,  the  latter  being,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  exceedingly  irregular  in  outline.  The  black  line  or  bar 
at  the  right  of  each  circle  gives  by  its  length  the  relative  depth  of 
run-off',  the  unit  adopted  being  the  depth  in  inches  per  square  mile 


W  Collatin 


Red 


s^ 

Sun          • 

Yellowsti^nel 

Cache 

laPoudre 


at  Canon 

Rio  Grande^ 


Salt 


20         25     <m 


E.Carson 
W.Carso 
Bear 
at  Battle 

Sear 

at  Coiim 

Ogden 
Weber 
American 

rovo 
Spanish  Fk 

Sevier 

Henry  FK,  i 

Falls 

Teton 


Malh 


Weiser 


FIG.  44. — Diagram  showing  relative  size  of  drainage  basins  and  depth  of  run-off. 

drained.  The  vertical  lines  indicate  the  number  of  inches;  in  the  case 
of  the  West  Gallatiu,  for  example,  a  little  less  than  15  inches  of  water 
per  year  came  from  the  drainage  basin,  or,  in  other  words,  if  the  water 
which  flowed  in  the  West  Gallatin  could  be  held  without  loss,  it  would 
cover  a  plain  surface  the  size  of  the  catchment  area  to  a  depth  of  less 
than  15  inches. 

By  the  examination  of  this  diagram,  Fig.  44,  it  will  be  seen  that  as  a 
rule  the  discharge  per  square  mile  is  less  from  the  large  basins  than 
from  the  smaller,  or,  in  other  words,  the  larger  the  basin  the  smaller 


14  WATER    SUPPLY   FOR   IRRIGATION. 

the  run-off.  This  is  a  fact  noticed  many  years  ago  by  engineers,  and 
often  recognized  in  computations  of  probable  discharge  of  rivers  based 
upon  the  area  of  the  drainage  basin  and  depth  of  rainfall.  The  decrease 
in  run-off  does  not  vary  directly  as  the  area  of  the  basin,  and  for  sim- 
plicity it  has  sometimes  been  taken  as  a  function  of  the  square  root 
of  the  area.  In  this  form  it  has  been  used  in  the  formulas  quoted  in 
various  works  upon  this  subject. 

The  cause  of  the  decrease  in  the  proportion  of  run-off  as  a  larger 
part  of  any  drainage  basin  is  taken  is  due  principally  to  the  fact 
that  in  the  larger  catchment  areas  there  is  usually  included  a  greater 
percentage  of  level  land,  while  in  a  small  basin,  embracing  the  head- 
waters of  some  stream,  the  catchment  area  may  consist  wholly  of  high, 
steep  mountain  slopes,  upon  which  there  is  heavy  precipitation  and  from 
which  the  water  flows  with  great  rapidity,  the  loss  from  evaporation 
being  greatly  reduced.  This,  for  example,  is  the  case  in  each  instance 
shown  in  the  diagram  where  the  depth  of  run -off  is  great.  The  West 
Gallatin,  Madison,  and  Bedrock,  the  East  and  West  Carson,  and  others 
have  a  catchment  area  composed  almost  exclusively  of  steep  mountain 
slopes. 

The  decrease  in  depth  of  run-off  with  increase  of  area  drained  is 
shown  in  a  striking  manner  in  the  case  of  the  Eio  Grande,  the  dis- 
charge of  which  beyond  a  point  a  short  distance  from  the  upper  head 
waters  increases  but  slightly,  although  the  area  tributary  to  the  stream 
continues  to  grow  larger  and  larger.  In  the  case  of  this  river,  how- 
ever, some  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  peculiar  condition  of  the 
drainage  basin,  embracing  large  catchment  areas  from  which  no  water 
flows  except  in  time  of  flood.  In  fact,  as  pointed  out  by  E.  T.  Hill, 
the  Eio  Grande  may  be  considered  as  a  stream  which  has  cut  its 
way  through  a  series  of  lost-river  basins,  and  which,  but  for  the  outlet 
near  El  Paso,  would  be  classified  with  the  streams  of  the  Great  Inte- 
rior basin. 

There  are  occasional  exceptions  to  the  general  rule  that  the  average 
depth  of  run-off  decreases  as  the  basin  grows  larger  ;  as,  for  example, 
in  the  case  of  the  Bear,  where,  as  shown  by  the  diagram,  the  run-off  at 
Collinston,  below  Cache  valley,  is  greater  than  at  Battle  Creek,  at  the 
head  of  the  same  valley.  This  is  due  to  the  large  run-off  from  the 
mountains  on  the  east  side  of  Cache  valley,  the  topography  being  far 
more  broken  than  at  the  head  waters.  The  rule  in  this  case  will  hold 
good  if  the  streams  from  these  mountains  are  considered  as  the  main 
source  of  supply  for  the  river  and  the  water  entering  from  other  sources 
as  tributary  to  these. 

For  convenience  of  reference  the  following  table  has  been  prepared, 
showing  the  mean  annual  run-off  from  several  of  the  more  important 
drainage  basins,  these  being  arranged  in  the  order  of  proportion  of 
discharge.  This  relation  is  expressed  in  this  table  not  only  in  depth 
in  inches,  but  also  in  second-feet  per  square  mile  drained,  viz,  the 


NEWELL.  J 


AVERAGE    RUN   OFF. 


15 


average  discharge  for  the  year  in  cubic  feet  per  second  is  divided  by 
the  area  in  square  m  iles  from  which  the  water  comes.  To  obtain  the 
depth  in  inches,  it  is  necessary  to  multiply  the  second-feet  per  square 
mile  by  13.575: 


River. 

Drainage 
area. 

Run-off. 

Depth. 

Second- 
feet  per 
square  mile. 

Sq.  miles. 
70 
66 
414 
360 
931 
594 
10,  100 
850 
2,700 
1,519 
2,085 
1,400 
967 
640 
1,670 
1,600 
1,175 
6,000 
4,500 
1,060 
17,  615 
3,060 
670 

Inches. 
32-4 
30-0 
26-1 
25-0 
25-0 
22-4 
14-2 
14-0 
13-9 
12-9 
12-8 
12-8 
12-1 
11-4 
9-8 
8-3 
8-2 
5-4 
4-5 
4-0 
3-9 
3-7 
3-5 

2-38 
2-22 
1-92 
1-84 
1-84 
1-65 
1-05 
1-03 
1-02 
•95 
•B5 
•95 
•89 
•84 
•72 
•61 
•61 
•40 

•sa 

•30 
•29 
•27 
•26 

American  Fork  

Henry  Fork  

Falls  

Snake  

West  Gallatin  

Yellowstone  

Truckee  

Madison  

Rio  Grande  at  Del  Norte  

Tetou  

Provo  

Weiser  

Weber  

Sun  

Bear  at  Collinston  

Arkansas  (6  years)  

Spanish  Fork  

Average  

13-8 

1-01 

As  will  be  seen  by  this  table,  the  depth  of  run-off  varies  greatly, 
ranging  from  over  32  inches  in  the  case  of  the  West  Carson,  which 
heads  in  the  Sierra  Nevadas,  down  to  3.5  inches  for  the  Spanish  Fork, 
whose  catchment  area  is  comparatively  low  and  broad.  The  average 
of  these  twenty-three  cases  is  13.8  inches,  or  at  the  rate  of  a  trifle  over 
1  second-foot  per  square  mile.  The  catchments  of  these  streams  being 
well  distributed  throughout  the  mountainous  area  of  the  arid  region, 
the  average  run-off  as  obtained  in  this  way  may  be  considered  as  being 
fairly  representative  of  the  discharge  from  the  higher  mountains  of  the 
West,  and  it  has  been  used  in  this  way  in  the  preceding  discussion. 

FLUCTUATIONS   OF   RIVERS   AND   LAKES. 

The  average  discharge,  as  discussed  above,  is  a  matter  of  first  impor- 
tance in  considerations  of  water  supply,  but  second  only  to  it  is  a 
knowledge  of  the  fluctuations  which  take  place  in  the  quantity  deliv- 
ered day  by  day  or  year  by  year.  If  the  stream  flowed  at  about  a. 
certain  rate  for  long  periods  at  a  time  or  fluctuated  with  the  seasons, 
returning  to  a  former  level  each  mouth,  the  subject  of  water  control 
would  be  comparatively  simple;  but,  unfortunately,  the  quantity  of 
water  flowing  in  a  river  is  the  resultant  of  so  many  variables,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  predict  with  my  degree  of  certainty  what  will  be  the 
amount  flowing  in  the  stream  during  the  next  crop  season. 


16  WATER   SUPPLY   FOE   IRRIGATION. 

Farmers  have  learned  by  experience  to  estimate  the  possible  discharge 
during  the  next  succeeding  crop  season  by  the  general  appearance  of 
the  snows  in  the  mountains,  but  beyond  these  rough  approximations, 
as  to  whether  the  stream  will  be  high  or  low,  it  is  impossible  to  obtain 
definite  knowledge.  A  study  of  the  character  of  the  fluctuations,  how- 
ever, which  have  taken  place  in  past  years  throws  light  upon  the 
probable  behavior  of  the  stream,  and  the  longer  such  observations 
have  been  kept  up  the  better  able  are  the  irrigators  to  judge  of  the 
probabilities. 

The  variation  in  the  amount  of  water  discharged  day  by  day  is  shown 
graphically  upon  a  number-of  plates  published  in  the  preceding  annual 
reports,  and  also  in  a  number  of  diagrams  on  the  following  pages.  An 
examination  of  these  diagrams  shows  that  most  of  the  rivers  have  a 
certain  similarity  in  the  character  of  the  variation,  namely,  in  that  the 
water  increases  in  amount  during  the  late  spring  or  early  summer  and 
then  decreases  to  the  minimum  in  September  or  October.  This  is  the 
seasonal  change  which  may  be  traced  on  nearly  all  diagrams  of  river 
height  or  discharge.  Comparing  the  diagram  for  one  year  with  that  of 
another  for  the  same  stream,  it  is  seen  at  a  glance  that  although  there 
is  a  certain  similarity,  yet  no  two  actually  coincide,  the  floods  of  one 
year  coming  earlier  or  later  than  those  of  another,  and  the  total  amount 
of  water  discharged  differing  by  a  large  amount.  There  are  thus, 
besides  the  change  from  day  to  day,  two  classes  of  fluctuations  to  be 
considered:  First,  the  monthly  or  seasonal,  which  from  its  regularity 
may  be  called  the  periodic  fluctuation,  and  second,  the  change  from 
year  to  year,  which  from  its  great  irregularity  is  known  as  the  non- 
periodic  oscillation. 

The  periodic  oscillation  or  variation  in  height  or  quantity  of  water  in 
rivers  and  lakes  is  a  matter  which  can  be  readily  determined  by  meas- 
urements carried  on  through  a  series  of  years.  It  follows  in  a  general 
way  the  changes  of  temperature  and  is  affected  to  a  certain  extent  by 
variations  in  the  amount  of  rain  or  snow  fall;  the  relation  in  this  latter 
case,  however,  not  being  one  whose  connection  can  be  readily  traced, 
except  in  the  case  of  rivers  similar  to  the  Gila,  receiving  a  great  part 
of  their  waters  from  violent  local  storms.  These  rivers,  however,  can 
scarcely  be  said  to  have  a  periodic  oscillation,  although  the  storms  are 
more  apt  to  occur  during  certain  months  of  the  year.  On  PI.  LIX  of  the 
third  irrigation  report 1  a  diagram  is  given,  showing  the  periodic  oscil- 
lation of  four  rivers  in  connection  with  the  average  rainfall  at  a  typical 
station  in  the  basin  of  each  stream. 

The  periodic  fluctuation  of  a  number  of  important  rivers  and  lakes  of 
the  United  States  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  45,  which  shows  in  a  generalized 
form  the  average  height  for  a  number  of  years.  At  the  top  is  shown 
the  average  gauge  height  of  the  Missouri  river  at  Yankton,  S.  Dak., 
and  below  this  of  the  Cache  la  Poudre  and  Arkansas  rivers  near  the 
point  where  they  leave  the  mountains  in  Colorado.  In  the  case  of  the 

1  Twelfth  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pt.  2,  Irrigation  p.  226. 


NEWELL.] 


OSCILLATIONS   OF   WATER    LEVEL. 


17 


first  stream  the  rise  to  the  June  flood  is  rapid  and  the  decline  is  gradual, 
while  in  the  other  two  the  June  flood  is  more  abrupt,  the  water  falling 
nearly  to  the  minimum  in  August.  Below  these  is  given  the  average 
gauge  height  of  the  Arkansas  at  Fort  Smith,  Ark.,  showing  the  differ- 
ence in  the  behavior  of  the  river  at  a  point  farther  away  from  the  moun- 
tains. Here  floods  prevail  from  February  until  June,  then  falling  to  low 
water  in  September  or  October.  The  early  floods  come  from  the  lower 


Jan.  Feb.  Mar.  Apr.  May.  June.  July.  Aug.  Sept.   Oct.  Nov.  Dec. 


Missouri  at  Yankton 
Cache  la  Poudre 


Arkansas  at  Canyon  City.. 
Arkansas  at  Fort  Smith 
Colorado  at  Yuma 
San  Joaquin 
G reat  Salt  Lake 
Utah  Lake 


Savannah 


Monongahela 


FIG.  45.— Diagram  of  periodic  oscillations  of  water  level. 

plains  region,  and  these  are  followed  in  turn  by  high  water  from  more 
elevated  portions  of  the  basin,  the  head- water  floods  coming  last  of  all. 
The  fifth  figure  from  the  top  is  that  of  the  average  gauge  height  of 
the  Colorado  river  at  Yuma,  Arizona;  the  floods  in  this  great  stream 
culminating  in  June,  as  do  those  of  the  mountain  streams  of  the  arid 
region.  Below  this  is  the  San  Joaquin  river  of  California,  whose  great 
est  discharge  comes  a  little  earlier  in  the  season,  the  high  water  of 
winter  beginning  in  December  or  even  in  November.  The  rise  in  both 
of. these  rivers  is  similar  in  many  ways  to  that  of  Great  Salt  lake  and 
13  GEOL.,  PT.  in 2 


18 


WATER  SUPPLY  FOR  IRRIGATION. 


Utah  lake,  in  Utah,  the  maximum  in  both  of  these  occurring  in  June 
and  the  altitude  of  the  surface  falling  gently  toward  winter.  The  last 
four  diagrams  on  the  page  show  the  behavior  of  the  principal  Eastern 
rivers.  This  shows  the  later  spring  floods  of  the  Northern  rivers  as 
compared  with  those  farther  South,  the  high  water  in  the  Savannah 
being  earlier  than  in  the  Potomac  and  in  the  latter  than  in  the  Connec- 
ticut. The  curve  of  river  height  of  the  Monougahela  is  typical  of  that 
for  other  tributaries  of  the  Ohio. 

NONPERIODIC    OSCILLATIONS. 

The  nonperiodic  oscillations  give  rise  to  the  greatest  concern  on  the 
part  of  the  engineer  and  the  irrigator,  for  while  he  can  be  reasonably 
certain  regarding  the  character  of  the  periodic  variation  he  must  at  all 
times  be  on  the  watch  for  extraordinary  occurrences  for  which  there 
are  no  analogies.  The  rivers  and  lakes  may  for  a  time  increase  in 
volume  or  may  apparently  shrink  so  greatly  as  to  cause  serious  alarm 
as  to  their  permanence.  In  the  humid  regions  these  nonperiodic  oscil- 
lations are  of  less  moment,  but  in  the  arid  regions,  where  water  is 
always  scarce,  any  change  for  the  better  or  worse  has  an  immediate 
effect  upon  the  community  as  a  whole. 

The  extent  and  character  of  nonperiodic  oscillations  may  be  illus- 
trated by  a  few  instances  taken  from  streams  in  Colorado  and  other 
states.  By  reference  to  the  table  given  below  the  average  monthly  dis- 
charge of  the  Cache  la  Poudre  can  be  seen  for  the  months  from  April  to 
October  inclusive  for  the  years  1884  to  1891.  This  table  shows  that  the 
average  discharge  for  the  seven  months  gradually  decreased  from  1,573 
second-feet  in  1884  to  373  second-feet  in  1888,  a  decrease  of  1,200  second- 
feet,  or  over  three-quarters  of  the  amount  flowing  in  1884.  Since  1888 
the  discharge  has  increased,  being  in  1891  less  than  one-half  thatiii  the 
year  first  named.  This,  as  can  be  imagined,  is  a  most  serious  matter; 
for  if  streams  are  liable  to  shrink  to  a  third  or  even  a  quarter  of  their 
value,  the  owners  of  the  canals  taking  out  the  water,  as  well  as  the  irri- 
gators,  must  of  necessity  suffer. 

Mean  monthly  discharge  in  second-feet  of  Cache  la  Poudre  creek,  Colorado. 


Year. 

April. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

August. 

September. 

October. 

, 
Average 
for  seven 
montba. 

1884  

219 

2  537 

4  812 

2  144 

792 

305 

205 

1  573 

1885      

447 

1,419 

2  910 

1  857 

656 

272 

203 

1  109 

1886  

*300 

1  309 

1  876 

717 

338 

185 

129 

693 

1887 

*200 

*1  300 

1  401 

735 

307 

175 

*120 

60T 

1888 

181 

483 

1  113 

420 

213 

109 

*90 

373 

1889 

113 

649 

1  338 

514 

187 

67 

69 

419 

1890 

200 

1  044 

1  280 

649 

287 

103 

80 

V>0 

1891     .  . 

144 

1  221 

1  900 

541 

228 

138 

118 

613 

Mean  

225 

1,245 

2,079 

947 

376 

169 

126 

738 

NEWELL.] 


VARIATIONS    IN    DISCHARGE. 


19 


A  fluctuation  of  a  similar  character,  although  not  as  decided,  is  shown 
by  the  Arkansas,  whose  drainage  basin  is  farther  south,  but  in  many 
ways  similar  to  that  of  the  stream  above  mentioned.  As  shown  by  the 
following  table,  the  average  discharge  in  1886  was  1,572  second-feet,  and 
in  1889  was  only  523  second-feet,  or  about  one-third  of  the  former  amount. 
In  succeeding  years,  however,  the  discharge  increased,  the  average  in 
1891  being  1,382  second-feet,  or  about  two  and  a  half  times  that  of  1889. 

Mean  monthly  discharge  in  second-feet  of  the  Arkansas  river  at  Canyon  City,  Colorado. 


Year. 

April. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

August. 

September. 

October. 

Average 
for  7  mos. 

1886  

*600 

2  285 

4  190 

1  192 

1  110 

1887  . 

*450 

*1  875 

2  602 

2  510 

1  284 

1888     .     .. 

*1  000 

1  440 

2  090 

1  350 

932 

1889  

300 

600 

1  374 

60° 

340 

290 

1890  

477 

2  090 

2  611 

1  571 

670 

519 

1891  

857 

2  012 

3  291 

1  468 

951 

473 

1892  

522 

1  241 

2  787 

1  798 

769 

435 

511 

Mean  

601 

1  649 

2  707 

1  499 

865 

589 

513 

*  The  figures  for  1886  and  1887  have  been  computed  from  the  discharge  measurements  at  Pueblo, 
allowance  being  made  for  the  difference  in  drainage  areas.  See  Eleventh  Annual  Report  of  the  U.  S. 
Geological  Survey,  part  2,  Irrigation,  pages  97-98;  also  Twelfth  Annual  Iteport,  part  2,  page  349. 

That  these  oscillations,  so  strongly  marked  in  the  case  of  the  Cache 
la  Poudre  and  Arkansas,  are  not  local  may  be  seen  by  making  com- 
parisons with  records  of  streams  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  There 
are  few  rivers  in  the  arid  region,  however,  which  afford  records  of  con- 
siderable length,  and  the  character  of  the  oscillations  can  perhaps  best 
be  shown  by  records  of  the  height  of  Utah  lake,  a  fresh- water  lake  in 
Utah,  and  for  a  longer  period  by  those  for  Great  Salt  lake,  into  which  it 
empties.  As  shown  by  the  following  table  Utah  lake  rose  in  height  from 
1884  to  1885  and  then  fell  steadily  until  1889,  when  it  began  to  rise  again. 
By  comparison  with  the  longer  record  of  the  height  of  Great  Salt  lake,  it 
appears  that  this  slight  rise  and  continuous  decline  for  a  number  of  years 
are  part  of  an  irregular  oscillation.  The  level  of  this  latter  lake  has  been 
falling,  with  occasional  interruptions,  for  about  fifteen  years,  this  grad- 
ual decline  being  checked  for  a  time  by  high  water  in  1885  and  1886. 

Mean  monthly  height  of  Utah  lake,    Utah,  above  compromise  line. 


Tear. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Annual. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

1884. 

-0-7 

-0-3 

0-3 

0-8 

2-2 

4-4 

4-6 

3-5 

2-6 

2-4 

2-3 

2-2 

2-02 

1885. 

•_"4 

2-6 

2-5 

2-7 

3-4 

4-2 

3-9 

3-1 

2-6 

2-2 

2-1 

2-1 

2-82 

1886. 

2-2 

2-3 

2-3 

2-5 

3-0 

3-2 

2-6 

1-7 

0-9 

0-5 

0-4 

0-6 

1-85 

1887. 

0-8 

0-9 

0-9 

0-8 

1-0 

1-2 

0-9 

o-o 

-0-7 

—1-1 

—1-2 

—1-1 

0-20 

1888. 

-0-8 

—0-5 

-0-1 

o-o 

—0-2 

—0-7 

—1-2 

—1-5 

—1-8 

—2-1 

—2-5 

—2-6 

—1-17 

1889. 

-2-5 

—2-2 

—1-6 

—1-3 

-1-9 

—2-4 

—2-9 

—3-3 

—3-7 

—4-1 

—4-0 

—  :i-3 

—2-77 

1890. 

-2-8 

—2-2 

-1-6 

-1-1 

—0-5 

0-1 

—0-4 

—0-9 

—1-2 

—1-4 

—1-5 

—1-7 

—1-27 

1891  . 

—1-7 

—1-4 

-0-8 

—0-2 

0-3 

0-8 

0-1 

—0-5 

—0-9 

—1-2 

—1-3 

—1-2 

—0-67 

1892 

0-8 

0-1 

0-2 

0'2 

0-3 

Means. 

—0-43 

—0-10 

0-23 

0-49 

0-84 

1-35 

0-95 

0-26 

—0-28 

—0-69 

—  0'71 

—0-62 

—0-11 

NOTE. — These  data  have  been  obtained  from  a  survey  of  Utah  Lake  and  from  records  kept  by 
various  individuals,  notably  James  Aitken,  Lake  Shore,  Utah  county,  Utah.  All  records  have 
been  reduced  to  compromise  line,  viz,  an  arbitrary  height  marked  by  two  monuments,  one  near 
the  mouth  of  Jordan  river,  the  other  near  the  mouth  of  the  old  channel  of  Spanish  Fork.  This 
height,  when  established  in  1885,  by  agreement  between  the  counties  of  Salt  Lake  and  Utah  was 
assumed  to  be  3  feet  3.5  inches  above  low  water.  (See  also  diagram  of  fluctuations  in  Twelfth  Annual 
Report  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  part  2,  Irrigation,  page  336,  Fig.  229.) 


20  -WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 

Mean  annual  height  of  Great  Salt  lake,  Utah,  above  Lake  Shore  zero. 


Tear. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Annual. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

1875 

5-7 

5-6 

5-5 

5-7 

1876  .  .  . 

6-0 

6-1 

6-3 

6-4 

6-8 

7-5 

7-6 

7.2 

6-8 

6-7 

*6-6 

*6-6 

6.7 

1877 

7-3 

6-1 

5-8 

6-0 

1878  .  .  . 

5-3 

*5-9 

6-0 

*6-l 

6-2 

6-3 

6-1 

*5-8 

*5-5 

*5-2 

4-8 

4-7 

5-7 

1879 

5-0 

2-5 

2-6 

4-0 

1880. 

2-7 

2-6 

2-8 

2-9 

3-15 

3-3 

3-2 

2-8 

2-3 

1-9 

1-7 

1.7 

2-6 

1881. 

2-0 

2-5 

2-6 

2-7 

3-1 

3-4 

3-2 

2-8 

2.3 

2-1 

2-0 

2-1 

2-6 

1882. 

2-2 

2-3 

2-4 

2-6 

2-9 

2-9 

2-6 

2-3 

1-7 

1-4 

1-4 

1-4 

2-2 

1883. 

1-4 

1-5 

1.5 

1-7 

*l-8 

*2-0 

*2'1 

*2-0 

1-7 

0-9 

0-5 

0-4 

1-5 

1884. 

0-4 

0-5 

0-8 

1-2 

1-8 

2-5 

2-8 

2-5 

2-4 

2-3 

2-2 

2-3 

1-8 

1885. 

2-6 

2-8 

3-0 

3-3 

3-6 

4-0 

4-2 

4-0 

3.5 

3.3 

3.2 

3-2 

3-4 

1886. 

3-5 

3-8 

4-1 

4-3 

4-5 

4-6 

4-2 

*4-0 

*3-8 

3-6 

3-4 

3-6 

3-9 

1887. 

3-5 

3-5 

3-8 

3-8 

4-0 

4-0 

3.8 

3.5 

2-9 

2.6 

2.5 

*2-5 

3-4 

1888. 

2-6 

2-7 

2-3 

3-0 

2-9 

2-7 

2-3 

2-0 

1-6 

1-3 

0-9 

1-0 

2-2 

1889. 

1-0 

1-2 

1-5 

1.2 

1.2 

0.9 

0.3 

—0-3 

—  1-0 

—  1-0 

—  0-9 

—0-9 

03 

1890. 

—0-8 

—0-4 

0-0 

0-2 

0-7 

1-0 

0-8 

0-5 

o-o 

—  0-4 

—  0-4 

—  0-4 

0.1 

1891. 

—0-3 

—0-3 

o-o 

0-1 

0-3 

0-4 

o-i 

—  0'3 

—  0-5 

—  0-6 

—0-7 

-0-8 

—0-2 

Mean. 

2-33 

2-48 

2-68 

2-83 

3-20 

3.25 

3-37 

2-77 

2-58 

2-56 

2.41 

2.23 

2-72 

*  Estimated. 

NOTE. — The  data  from  which  the  greater  part  of  these  figures  have  been  obtained  are  to  be  found 
in  Gilbert's  Monograph  on  Lake  Bonneville,  pp.  233-238. 

These  facts  are  best  shown  by  reference  to  Fig.  46,  which  gives  in 
graphic  form  the  averages  of  the  mean  values  shown  in  the  above  four 
tables.  The  rapid  decrease  of  water  in  each  of  the  rivers  and  lakes  just 
mentioned  clearly  appears,  although  the  maximum  and  minimum  points 
do  not  happen  on  the  same  years  in  each  case.  The  longer  record  of 
Great  Salt  lake  gives  a  hint  as  to  what  may  have  been  the  amount  of 
water  in  Utah  lake,  and  possibly  in  the  streams  during  preceding  years. 
According  to  this  diagram  the  height  of  Great  Salt  lake  has  been  as 
a  whole  steadily  decreasing,  but  that  this  is  only  the  latter  part  of  a 
great  fluctuation,  a  return  from  unusually  high  water  to  conditions 
more  nearly  normal,  can  be  seen  by  referring  to  a  diagram  contained 
in  Gilbert's  monograph  on  Lake  Bonneville.1  According  to  this  figure, 
the  high  water  of  1876  is  not  far  from  the  maximum  for  this  century 
at  least,  while  the  low  water  of  1890  may  be  considered  as  being  above 
the  average  height  previous  to  1865. 

The  most  prominent  feature  shown  in  Fig.  46  is  the  unusually  high 
water  prevailing  about  1885.  This  is  a  condition  which  has  been 
noticed  in  many  other  localities,  namely,  that  from  1884  to  1886  there 
was  an  extraordinarily  large  stream  discharge  and  that  lakes  increased 
in  height,  in  some  localities  the  rise  reaching  its  maximum  in  1884,  in 
others  not  until  later.  For  comparison  with  the  rivers  of  Colorado  and 
the  lakes  of  Utah  just  mentioned  may  be  given  the  Colorado  river 
and  the  San  Joaquin,  the  former  draining  the  western  part  of  Colo- 
rado, the  eastern  half  of  Utah  and  nearly  all  of  Arizona,  and  the  lat- 
ter receiving  its  waters  from  the  western  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas. 
These,  as  will  be  seen  by  examination  of  Fig.  47,  show  a  great  rise  in 


1  Lake  Bonneville,  by  Grove  Carl  Gilbert,  Washington,  1890,  Mon.  TJ.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Vol.  1,  page 
243,  Fig.  33. 


NEWELL.] 


DECREASE    OF    WATER    SUPPLY. 


21 


1884,  followed  by  a  decline  more  or  less  gradual  and  an  increase  toward 
the  end  of  the  decade.  On  this  same  diagram  is  given  a  curve,  show- 
ing the  variation  in  rainfall  at  all  of  the  stations  in  the  western  part 
of  the  United  States,  where  record  has  been  kept  for  the  past  decade. 
The  average  annual  rainfall,  as  shown  on  Fig.  47,  agrees  quite  closely 


o 

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400 

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FKK  46. — Diagram  of  nonperiodic  oscillations  of  various  rivers  and  lakes. 

with  the  behavior  of  the  rivers,  more  closely,  in  fact,  than  would  have 
been  anticipated.  It  shows  that,  taking  the  country  as  a  whole,  there 
was  an  extraordinary  amount  of  precipitation  during  1884.  At  about 
that  time  the  great  increase  in  rainfall  was  noticed  and  popularly  at- 
tributed to  the  effects  of  cultivation  and  to  other  causes  under  the  con- 
trol of  man.  That  these  fluctuations  in  precipitation  are  widespread, 


22 


WATER  SUPPLY  FOE  IRRIGATION. 


and  wholly  remote  from  human  influence  even  in  the  slightest  degree, 
hardly  needs  discussion  at  present. 

For  comparison  with  the  fluctua- 
tions of  Great  Salt  lake  it  is  inter- 
esting to  note  the  average  height 
of  water  in  the  Great  Lakes,  viz, 
Superior,  Michigan,  Erie,  and  On- 
tario, during  the  same  years.  This 
is  given  on  Fig.  48,  and  an  exami- 
nation shows  that  in  a  minor,  degree 
tLere  is  a  certain  coincidence.  For 
instance,  there  are  in  both  cases 
times  of  relatively  high  water  in 
1870, 1877,  and  1885->87,  after  which 
date  both  fall.  These  points  of 
agreement,  however,  are  equaled 
or  surpassed  in  importance  by  dif- 
ferences in  the  general  form  of  the 
curve  as  a  whole,  Salt  lake  having 
unusually  high  water  from  1870 
to  1880,  while  the  diagram  for  the 
Great  Lakes  shows  almost  the  re- 
verse. The  important  distinction 
in  the  two  should  not  be  overlooked, 
namely,  that  Great  Salt  lake  has 
no  outlet  to  discharge  its  excess 
water,  while  the  Great  Lakes  have. 

The  nonperiodic    variations    in     Flo.  47.-Diagram  of  Aperiodic  oscillate  of 

height  in   rivers    and    lakes,   While  Colorado,  King,  and  San  Joaquin  rivers. 

taking  place  in  humid  regions,  are  not  as  generally  noticed  as  in  the  case 


o                  10                   o                   10                   °                   *>                  o 

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FIG.  48. — Diagram  showing  comparison  of  nonperiodic  oscillations  of  the  Great  Lakes  with  Great 

Salt  lake. 


NEWELL.] 


FLUCTUATIONS  OF  THE  GREAT  LAKES. 


23 


of  the  waters  of  arid  lands,  because,  water  being  far  in  excess  of  all 
demands,  an  increase  or  diminution  passes  unheeded  by  the  uublic, 

o  «o  o  10  °  «o  o 

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gl    234^6789^1  234^6789^1  234^676 9  5  I  2 


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FIG.  49 — Diagram  of  nonperiodic  oscillations  of  the  Great  Lakes. 

although  the  same  amount  of  change  in  the  arid  region  would  be  of  vital 
importance.    Occasionally,  however,  circumstances  occur  by  which  these 


24 


WATER  SUPPLY  FOR  IRRIGATION. 


oscillations  are  forced  upon  public  attention,  as,  for  instance,  in  the 
case  of  Lake  Michigan,  which  from  1879  rose  steadily  until  1886,  and 
alarm  was  excited  for  the  safety  of  the  wharves  and  other  property  at 
Chicago.  In  the  following  years,  however,  the  lake  fell  more  rapidly 
than  it  rose,  until  in  1891  there  was  another  alarm,  but  from  the  oppo- 
site cause,  namely,  that  the  lake  was  retreating  so  rapidly  that  it 
threatened  to  leave  the  wharves  high  and  dry. 

Observations  have  been  kept  of  the  height  of  the  Great  Lakes  for 
over  thirty  years,  giving  one  the  best  records  of  oscillations  of  water 
level  in  this  country.  It  is  instructive  to  examine  this  record,  shown 
in  the  following  table,  in  connection  with  the  present  subject,  and  to 
note  the  changes  that  have  occurred  during  three  decades.  These 
facts  are  also  on  Fig.  49,  which  gives  diagramatically  the  mean  annual 
water  level  at  stations  on  lakes  Superior,  Michigan,  Erie,  and  Ontario, 
the  small  circles  indicating  the  average  height  for  the  year  noted  at 
the  top  of  the  figure.  The  undulating  line  passing  through  some  of 
these  points  is  a  smoothed-out  curve,  constructed  by  the  use  of  the 
simple  formula  6'=^  (a+2&+c),  in  which  b'  is  the  smoothed  value  for 
any  year,  a  the  observed  value  for  the  year  preceding,  6  the  observed 
value  for  the  year  under  consideration,  and  c  for  the  succeeding  year:1 

Mean  annual  height  below  plane  of  reference. 


Year. 

Superior. 

Michigan. 

Erie. 

Ontario. 

Mean. 

I860    

Feet. 

Feet. 
2-01 

Feet. 
1-61 

Feet. 
2'31 

Fett. 

1861    '.  

2-03 

1-53 

1-53 

1862    

2-68 

2-07 

1-42 

1-54 

1-93 

1863    

3-02 

2-54 

1'71 

1-94 

2'30 

1864  

3-34 

3-16 

2'31 

2-12 

2-73 

1865  

2-93 

3-40 

2-67 

2-38 

2-85 

1866  

2-94 

3-73 

2-53 

2-72 

2  98 

1867           

2-72 

3-29 

2'50 

1'77 

2-57 

1868           

2'91 

3-78 

2-88 

3'19 

3'19 

1869      

2'58 

3-66 

2'46 

2'34 

2-76 

1870             

2-89 

2-75 

1-83 

1-26 

2'18 

1871      

3-25 

2-82 

2-42 

2-63 

2'78 

1872  

3-17 

4-10 

3-33 

4-16 

3'70 

1873  

2-84 

3-45 

2-67 

3-09 

3-01 

1874    

2.88 

2-96 

2'16 

2'34 

2-59 

1875  

2-75 

3-21 

2-83 

3-63 

3-11 

1876  

2-42 

2-08 

Ml 

1-77 

1-92 

1877  

2-87 

2-31 

2-96 

1878  

3-37 

2-62 

1-82 

2-36 

2'54 

1879  

4-01 

3-54 

2-58 

2-71 

3-21 

1880  

3-55 

3-40 

3-11 

1881                               ... 

3-10 

2'88 

3-42 

1882 

3-14 

2'51 

1-63 

2-35 

2-41 

1883 

3-37 

2'36 

1-84 

2-40 

2-49 

1884  

3-51 

2-26 

1-77 

1-95 

2-37 

1885         

3-27 

2'01 

1-87 

2-49 

2-41 

1886        

3-45 

1-77 

1-76 

1-77 

2'19 

1887  

3-51 

2-41 

1-80 

2-19 

2-48 

1888  

3-22 

3-03 

2-49 

3-37 

3-03 

1889  

3-18 

3-56 

2-75 

3-18 

3-17 

1890  

3-31 

3-68 

2-05 

2-23 

2-82 

1  In  this  connection  see  preliminary  report  by  Charles  A.  Schott  on  "  Fluctuations 
in  the  Level  of  Lake  Champlain  and  Average  Height  of  its  Surface  above  the  Sea," 
Appendix  No.  7,  An.  Rep.  U.  S.  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  1887,  p.  171. 


NEWELL.  ] 


MONTHLY    OSCILLATIONS    OF    LAKES. 
Mean  monthly  height  below  plane  of  reference. 


25 


Month. 

Superior. 

Michigan. 

Erie. 

Ontario. 

Mean. 

Feet. 
3-44 

Feet. 
3.35 

Feet. 
°'42 

Feet. 
3'08 

Feet. 

February  ... 

3-65 

3.31 

2'49 

3*06 

March  

3-70 

3-15 

2'  30 

2"  84 

April  

3-62 

2-94 

1*83 

2  '26 

2'G6 

May  

3-22 

2'69 

1-51 

T83 

2'31 

June  

2-96 

2-45 

1'35 

rfiH 

2'11 

July  

2'71 

2-37 

1-39 

1'74 

2'05 

August  

2'62 

2'43 

1-55 

2'02 

2-16 

September  

2-61 

2-62 

1'80 

2'41 

2'36 

October  

2-06 

2-84 

2-11 

2-79 

2-60 

November  

2-85 

3-09 

2'34 

3-06 

2'  84 

December  

3-20 

3-30 

2-39 

3'09 

3-00 

This  matter  of  the  nonperiodic  fluctuation  of  rivers  aud  lakes  and  its 
connection  with  variations  of  precipitation  has  been  discussed  by  many 
writers  in  connection  with  oscillations  of  climate.  The  most  elaborate 
discussion  of  the  subject  is  probably  that  by  Dr.  Edward  Briickner.1 
'In  his  work  is  given  an  elaborate  discussion  of  data  concerning  the 
variations  of  rainfall  and  temperature,  also  of  wind  movement  and 
other  climatic  factors,  accompanied  by  diagrams  exhibiting  these  facts 
in  concise  form.  This  volume  has  been  preceded  by  pamphlets  upon 
the  oscillations  of  water  level  in  the  Caspian,  the  Black,  and  the  Baltic 
seas  in  their  relation  to  weather  and  on  the  question  as  to  what  extent 
is  the  present  climate  constant. 

The  principal  fact  taught  by  the  examination  of  the  fluctuations  of 
the  rivers  and  lakes  of  not  only  the  arid  regions,  but  of  the  United 
States  as  a  whole,  is  that  these  are  due  to  climatic  forces,  not  only  con- 
tinental, but  even  world-wide  in  extent.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  for 
a  river  to  sink  to  one-half  of  its  average  volume  in  any  one  year  or 
double  it  the  next.  These  matters,  however,  can  not  be  regulated  or 
affected,  except  perhaps  in  a  very  slight  degree,  by  any  action  on  the 
part  of  mankind.  There  is  an  idea  widely  current  that  the  removal  of 
the  forest  cover  at  the  head  waters  of  a  stream  acts  injuriously  in  many 
ways  and  causes  greater  fluctuations  in  the  quantity  discharged, 
especially  in  time  of  flood.  This  is  a  matter,  however,  exceedingly  dif- 
ficult to  prove  on  account  of  this  enormous  variation  in  volume  which 
takes  place  in  every  stream,  whether  in  a  forested  country  or  not,  the 
fluctuation  due  to  climatic  changes  being  enormously  greater  than 
that  which  can  be  attributed  in  any  way  to  the  result  of  forest  destruc- 
tion. 

VARIATIONS   IN   PRECIPITATION. 

The  changes  in  the  amount  of  rainfall  and  snowfall  at  various  local- 
ities are  by  no  means  comparable  among  themselves,  one  locality 
showing  a  slight  increase  in  anyone  year  and  another  a  decrease;  but, 

1  Klimaschwankungen  seit  1,700  nebst  Bemerkungen  iiber  die  Klimaschwankungen  der  Diluvialzeit, 
Von  Dr.  Eduard  Briickner.    Wien  and  Olmiitz,  Ed.  Holzel.    1890. 


26  WATER  SUPPLY  FOR  IRRIGATION. 

taking  the  averages  of  large  'numbers  of  observations,  there  are  found 
to  be,  as  before  shown,  certain  general  departures  on  one  side  or  the 
other,  one  year  being  marked  by  an  unusual  amount  of  precipitation 
and  another  by  deficiency.  These  averages  of  rainfall  measurements 
do  not  agree  as  closely  as  might  be  expected  with  the  statements  of 
farmers  as  to  droughts  or  good  years,  for  they  do  not  take  into  account 
the  distribution  of  the  rain  by  seasons ;  that  is  to  say,  there  may  be  an 
unusual  drought  at  the  critical  season  of  the  year  accompanied  by  great 
crop  losses,  and  yet,  taking  the  year  as  a  whole,  the  deficiency  of  rain- 
fall may  not  be  especially  notable.  Therefore  great  reliance  can  not  be 
placed  upon  the  results  of  total  annual  rainfall  measurements  alone. 

The  attempt  to  connect  the  discharge  of  any  one  stream  with  the 
measurements  of  rainfall  in  the  basin  is  unsatisfactory,  unless  the  catch- 
ment area  is  unusually  small  and  records  of  the  rainfall  have  been  kept 
at  a  large  number  of  places  well  distributed  over  this  area.  This  is  a 
matter  almost  impossible  of  achievement  in  the  arid  region,  where  the 
greater  part  of  the  available  water  supply  comes  from  high  mountain- 
ous areas  almost  if  not  quite  uninhabitable.  Until  this  apparently 
impossible  condition  is  fulfilled,  namely,  the  keeping  of  many  rainfall 
records  in  each  catchment  area,  it  will  be  hopeless  to  attempt  to  con- 
.  nect  the  rainfall  and  river  flow  in  any  detailed  manner. 

In  a  general  way  the  average  of  the  rainfall  measurements  over  sev- 
eral states  begins  to  show  a  coincidence  with  the  fluctuations  of  the 
streams,  although  in  detail  the  matter  seems  confused.  This  is  shown 
in  Fig.  47,  as  previously  mentioned,  and  might  be  brought  out  in  con- 
nection with  change  of  level  in  many  of  the  streams  and  lakes.  The 
matter  is  one,  however,  concerning  which  the  data  at  present  available 
are  still  too  limited  for  satisfactory  discussion. 

The  periodic  oscillations  of  rainfall  throughout  the  year  are  capa- 
ble of  more  satisfactory  treatment  than  the  fluctuations  year  by  year, 
from  the  fact  that  there  is  a  general  agreement  in  stations  near  each 
other,  changes  in  the  distribution  of  rainfall  by  mouths  being  found  to 
take  place  slowly  as  progress  is  made  across  the  continent.  A  diagram 
therefore,  prepared  from  along  record  at  any  one  station  in  one  of  the 
smaller  states  of  the  West,  is  found  to  be  applicable  in  the  main  fea- 
tures to  the  greater  part  if  not  the  whole  area;  that  is  to  say,  if  May  is 
the  month  of  maximum  rainfall  at  any  one  point  it  probably  is  for  all 
localities  in  the  state,  while  in  the  localities  adjoining  it  is  highly  prob- 
able that  the  time  of  maximum  rainfall  will  be  either  immediately  before 
or  after  that  of  the  given  state. 

Fig.  50  has  been  prepared  to  show  the  average  distribution  of  pre- 
cipitation by  months  at  a  few  stations  in  the  western  half  of  the  United 
States.  It  brings  out  in  sharp  contrast  the  differences  in  the  character 
of  the  rainfall  on  opposite  sides  of  the  arid  region.  On  the  Pacific  coast 
summer  droughts  are  the  rule,  while  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  arid 
region  the  greater  part  of  the  rainfall  is  during  summer.  Between 


NEWELL.  I 


MEAN    MONTHLY    RAINFALL. 


27 


these  two  the  gradual  transition  from  one  to  the  other  is  well  marked 
in  nearly  every  instance.  This  matter  of  the  characteristic  distribution 
of  precipitation  throughout  the  year  has  been  systematically  discussed 
by  Gen.  A.  W.  Greely  in  his  report  upon  irrigation  and  water  storage 
in  the  arid  regions,1  and  also  in  a  paper  presented  before  the  National 
Geographic  Society  upon  rainfall  types  of  the  United  States.2  He 
points  out  that  there  are  several  distinct  and  simple  types  of  rainfall, 
each  of  which  can  be  represented  graphically  by  a  curve  with  a  single 
bend  or  inflection,  the  average  monthly  amount  of  precipitation  increas- 


WALLAWALLA 


BOISE 


FT  ELLIS 


r».TOTTEN 


Inn.  .i 


iiiillmiii 


FT  B I  DWELL 


PROMONTORY 


CHEYENNE 


NORJHPLATTE 


Ijlllll^ 


SAN  FRANCISCO 


B  EOWAWE. 


SANTA  Ft 


NO 


liltlm 


il 


uu^JLll 


Ijjj 


SAN  DIEGO 


YUMA 


T  STANTON 


WACO 


•  lllE 


FIG.  50. — Diagram  of  the  distribution  of  the  mean  monthly  precipitation  at  sixteen  stations  in 

western  United  States. 

ing  steadily  from,  a  minimum  to  a  maximum  and  then  diminishing  in 
unbroken  progression.  Each  of  these  simple  types  of  rainfall  is  shown 
to  have  some  relation  to  the  movement  of  winds  from  some  one  great 
body  of  water — the  Pacific  Ocean,  the  Gulf  of  California,  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  etc.  Besides  these  simple  curves  are  composite  types,  shown 
graphically  by  two  inflections,  there  being  in  each  a  primary  and  a 
secondary  minimum  and  maximum. 

The  diagram,  Fig.  50,  shows  at  least  three  of  the  simple  types  and 
several  of  the  composite  forms.     In  the  cases  of  the  portions  of  the  dia- 


"Fifty-first  Congress,  second  session.  House  of  Representatives,  Ex.  Doc.  No.  287,  Washington,  1891. 
Report  on  the  climatology  of  the  arid  regions  of  the  United  States  with  reference  to  irrigation.  By 
Gen.  A.  W.  Greely,  Chief  Signal  Officer,  U.  S.  Army. 

2  The  National  Geographic  Magazine,  Vol.  v,  pp.  45-60.  Kainfall  types  of  the  United  States.  Annual 
Report,  by  Vice-President  Greely. 


28  WATER    SUPPLY   FOB    IRRIGATION. 

gram  illustrating  the  distribution  of  precipitation  at  Fort  Bidwell  and 
San  Francisco  a  general  curve  might  be  sketched  connecting  the  tops 
of  the  small  columns.  This  would  represent  fairly  well  the  Pacific  type 
of  rainfall,  which  is  characterized  by  heavy  precipitation  during  the 
winter  and  prolonged  droughts  in  summer.  In  a  similar  way  a  curve 
drawn  through  the  part  of  the  diagram  for  Santa  Fe  would  represent 
the  Mexican  type,  which  is  notable  for  the  very  heavy  precipitation  in 
August.  The  third  simple  type  is  perhaps  best  shown  on  this  diagram 
by  the  conditions  at  North  Platte,  Nebraska.  This  has  been  named  the 
Missouri  type,  from  the  fact  that  it  obtains  throughout  the  watershed 
of  the  Missouri  Eiver  and  its  principal  tributaries.  As  shown  by  the 
diagram,  the  rainfall  during  the  winter  is  very  light,  the  greatest 
amount  of  precipitation  being  in  late  spring  and  early  summer. 

SUBSURFACE  WATERS. 

The  water  obtained  from  rocks  beneath  the  general  surface  of  the 
country,  although  relatively  small  in  amount  when  compared  with  that 
from  streams,  has  great  importance,  from  the  fact  that  dependence  must 
necessarily  be  placed  upon  this  in  many  localities  where  running  water 
can  not  be  had.  Not  only  is  agriculture  benefited  indirectly  by  water 
from  wells  convenient  for  household  use  and  stock  purposes,  but  in 
many  instances  a  supply  sufficiently  great  for  irrigation  in  a  small  way 
has  been  obtained.  Water  for  irrigation  is  lifted  from  the  wells  gen- 
erally by  means  of  windmills  or  by  machinery  driven  by  steam  or  horse- 
power. In  some  localities  the  structure  of  the  rocks  is  such  that  water 
rises  to  the  surface  and  overflows,  artesian  wells  being  obtained  by 
drilling  to  depths  ranging  from  a  hundred  to  a  thousand  feet  or  more. 

The  total  number  of  artesian  wells  in  the  western  part  of  the  United 
States  in  1890  was  8,097,  as  ascertained  by  the  census  of  that  year. 
These  were  found  in  North  and  South  Dakota,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  and 
Texas,  and  the  states  and  territories  to  the  west  of  these  to  the  Pacific 
coast.  Of  this  number,  3,930  were  employed  to  a  greater  or  less  extent 
in  irrigation,  watering  51,896  acres,  or  1.43  per  cent  of  the  total  area 
irrigated.  The  residue  of  the  wells  were  undoubtedly  of  benefit  to  agri- 
culture to  some  extent;  their  principal  value,  however,  being  in  the  fact 
that  they  furnished  supplies  for  municipal  and  domestic  purposes,  and 
also  for  cattle  when  the  wells  are  in  the  vicinity  of  grazing  lauds. 

No  statistics  have  been  obtained  concerning  the  ordinary  wells  from 
which  water  is  pumped  or  drawn  by  various  means,  but  there  is  found 
in  nearly  every  locality  water  saturating  porous  rocks  near  the  surface 
in  all  places  except  on  desert  areas.  On  the  Great  Plains,  for  example, 
in  western  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  go  to 
depths  of  from  100  to  300  feet  or  more  before  water-bearing  strata  are 
reached,  but  throughout  the  arid  region  as  a  rule  wells  are  successfully 
dug  to  a  less  depth.  The  widespread  occurrence  of  water  in  pervious 
layers  of  the  earth's  crust,  and  sometimes  in  such  quantities  as  to  ap- 


NEWELL.J  GROUND    WATERS.  29 

pear  almost  inexhaustible,  has  given  rise  to  the  notion  that  it  flows  in 
great  channels  very  much  as  do  the  rivers  of  the  surface,  but  covered 
from  sight  by  rocks  and  soils.  There  are  a  few  instances  where  under- 
ground watercourses  actually  occur,  but  these  are  extremely  rare  and 
are  extraordinary  in  their  nature,  being  found  only  in  the  great  lime- 
stone deposits  or  among  the  lava  flows  of  recently  extinct  volcanic 
regions. 

In  a  majority  of  cases  subsurface  water  occurs  merely  as  moisture 
saturating  the  rocks.  If  these  are  unconsolidated  and  porous  the 
quantity  of  water  contained  in  the  interstices  is  in  the  aggregate  very 
large,  while  in  the  case  of  the  hard  compact  granites  or  slate  the  pro- 
portion is  extremely  small.  That  all  rocks  which  form  the  crust  of  the 
earth  contain  a  certain  amount  of  water  can  usually  be  shown  by  dry- 
ing any  of  them  and  noting  the  loss  in  weight.  The  sands  and  gravels 
washed  down  from  adjacent  heights  and  filling  depressions  are  partic- 
ularly well  adapted  to  hold  moisture,  and  it  is  from  these,  as  is  well 
known,  that  the  greatest  quantities  of  water  are  obtained. 

The  behavior  of  the  waters  in  these  sands  is  still  a  matter  of  inquiry, 
and  is  not  clearly  understood.  For  instance,  one  leading  question  is: 
Are  these  stationary,  or  do  they  flow  freely  from  place  to  place  ?  It  is 
probable  that  to  a  certain  degree  both  of  these  conditions  are  found 
in  nature.  In  a  small  valley  entirely  inclosed  the  water  accumulates 
in  the  sands  until  they  are  saturated  and  the  moisture  approaching 
the  surface  of  the  soil  begins  to  be  evaporated.  The  matter  then  ad- 
justs itself  until  a  balance  is  reached  between  the  amount  which  flows 
in  and  that  which  is  evaporated,  the  level  of  water  rising  until  the  loss 
is  equal  to  the  inflow.  If  a  well  be  made  in  this  sand  basin  and  the 
water  drawn  upon,  the  level  of  moisture  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  well  is  immediately  lowered.  The  influence  extends  only  with  great 
slowness  towards  the  edge  of  the  basin,  however,  the  water  level  not 
as  a  whole  fallingat  once,  as  would  be  the  case  in  drawing  from  a  large 
open  body,  the  place  of  the  water  removed  from  the  center  being  slowly 
occupied  by  a  gradual  progression  of  moisture  from  the  sides. 

Instead  of  a  small  basin,  if  one  of  indefinite  size  be  considered,  there 
is  seen  a  condition  of  things  similar  to  that  which  takes  place  in  a 
broad  extent  of  country.  The  moisture  at  the  lower  limit  of  a  large 
plain  escaping  either  in  springs  or  by  evaporation  is  gradually  replaced 
by  the  slowly  progressing  water,  which  percolates  with  a  rate  varying 
with  the  fineness  of  the  rock  or  sand  layer.  The  amount  of  water 
which  can  be  taken  from  underground  sources  is  limited  not  so  much 
by  the  total  quantity  in  the  area,  as  by  the  rate  at  which  it  can  flow 
through  these  sands  or  gravels,  and  after  the  first  wells  have  drawn 
upon  the  supply  already  stored  in  the  immediate  vicinity  the  amount 
which  can  be  taken  afterwards  is  governed  by  the  speed  with  which 
the  moisture  can  progress  to  the  place  from  ever-widening  limits.  In 
lost  river  basins  and  on  low  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  irrigated  areas  the 


30  WATER    SUPPLY    FOR   IRRIGATION. 

amount  and  behavior  of  this  subsurface  water  becomes  a  factor  of  great 
local  importance. 

Popular  interest,  especially  in  the  subhumid  regions,  has  been 
aroused  concerning  subsurface  or  ground  waters,  and  statements  as  to 
their  distribution,  quantity,  and  availability,  especially  for  irrigation, 
have  been  eagerly  received.  The  somewhat  misleading  and  indefinite 
term  "underflow"  has  been  applied  to  these  waters,  and  many  persons 
awakening  for  the  first  time  to  a  realization  of  their  presence  have  re- 
ceived exaggerated  impressions  or  have  magnified  the  importance  of 
phenomena  previously  known  to  engineers  and  geologists.  Extrava- 
gant reports  have  been  made  as  to  the  results  of  rude  experiments, 
and  many  persons  have  been  induced  to  believe  that  it  was  practicable 
to  irrigate  large  portions  of  the  subhuinid  region  by  means  of  the 
ground  waters  conducted  to  the  surface  of  the  gently  sloping  plains 
through  long  tunnels  or  open  channels.  Acting  on  this  belief,  thou- 
sands or  even  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  were  expended,  mainly 
in  the  years  1890  and  1891,  in  the  construction  of  such  projects,  princi- 
pally along  or  in  the  valleys  of  the  Platte  and  Arkansas  rivers.  So 
far  as  can  be  ascertained  by  examination  and  measurement  none  of 
these  projects  can  be  said  to  be  successful,  although  in  a  number  of 
cases  small  quantities  of  water  are  obtained  from  the  long,  deep  chan- 
nels which  penetrate  the  pervious  beds  of  sand  and  gravel. 

In  each  of  the  instances  of  these  so-called  underflow  canals  the  level 
of  the  ground  water,  or  what  is  known  to  engineers  as  the  water  table, 
is  lowered  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  cut  or  excavation,  and  the 
upper  part  of  the  pervious  beds  being  drained,  a  new  slope  of  the  water 
table  is  found,  this  being  adjusted  to  the  altered  conditions.  The 
progress  of  the  water  down  this  new  slope  is,  so  far  as  can  be  ascer- 
tained, practically  constant,  except  as  modified  by  local  rains  and 
changes  of  temperature.  The  quantity  of  water  actually  obtained, 
although  large  in  one  sense,  as,  for  example,  when  compared  with  that 
from  an  ordinary  well  or  the  amount  utilized  for  domestic  supply,  is 
almost  insignificant  with  reference  to  the  irrigation  of  any  considerable 
body  of  land.  The  projectors  of  these  irrigating  schemes  often  failed 
to  appreciate  not  only  the  fact  that  ground  waters  must  in  their  very 
nature  move  slowly,  but  also  that  even  in  comparatively  humid  coun- 
tries large  volumes  of  water  are  necessary  to  conduct  irrigation  on  an 
extended  scale. 

COST  AND  VALUE  OF  WATER  SUPPLY. 

The  average  first  cost  of  water  for  irrigation  throughout  western 
United  States  has  been  ascertained  to  be  at  the  rate  of  $8-15  per  acre, 
while  its  value,  wherever  the  rights  can  be  transferred  without  the 
land,  is  $26.  Applying  these  figures  to  the  total  acreage  as  ascertained 
by  the  last  census,  the  .total  first  cost  of  irrigating  the  lands  from  which 
crops  were  obtained  in  1889  was  $29,611,000,  and  the  total  value  of  the 


NEWELL. l  VALUE    OF    FLOWING    WATER.  31 

water  rights  was  $94,412,000,  the  in  crease  of  value  being  $64,801,000,  or 
218-84  per  cent  of  the  investment.  This  latter  sum  may  be  taken  as 
representing  the  value  of  the  supply  utilized.  The  average  animal  ex- 
pense of  maintaining  the  water  supply  was  $1-07  per  acre,  or  an  aggre- 
gate of  $3,794,000,  this  being  the  amount  expended  in  keeping  ;the 
canals  and  ditches  in  repair  and  free  from  sediment. 

The  estimated  first  cost  of  the  irrigated  lands  from  which  crops  were 
obtained  in  1889  was  $77,490,000,  and  their*  present  value,  including 
improvements,  $296,850,000,  showing  an  increased  value  of  $219,360,000, 
or  283-08  per  cent  of  the  investment  in  the  laud,  not  taking  into  consid- 
eration the  water.  The  average  value  of  the  crops  raised  was  $14.89 
per  acre,  or  a  total  of  $53,057,000.  These  figures  have  been  introduced 
to  exhibit  the  cost  and  value  of  irrigation  in  the  arid  regions.  The 
value  of  the  unutilized  water  supply  can  scarcely  be  estimated  until 
more  accurate  information  is  obtained  concerning  the  total  amount  of 
water  and  the  acreage  that  it  can  be  made  to  cover.  By  making  cer- 
tain assumptions,  however,  a  rough  estimate  can  be  arrived  at. 

Taking  the  average  first  cost  of  water  at  $8-15  per  acre  and  its  present 
value  at  $26  per  acre,  the  difference,  $17-85,  may  be  assumed  as  the 
value  of  the  water  as  it  flows  in  the  stream.  If  1  cubic  foot  per  second 
will  water  100  acres,  then  the  value  of  1  second-foot  is  $1,785.  Taking 
the  figures  given  on  page  10,  as  to  the  total  quantity  of  water  probably 
available,  viz,  360,000  second-feet,  the  total  value  of  this  water  is 
$642,600,000.  These  figures  obviously  have  no  claim  to  accuracy,  but 
merely  indicate  that,  calculated  on  the  most  conservative  basis,  the 
water  supply  of  the  arid  country  must  be  ranked  among  the  most  im- 
portant of  its  undeveloped  mineral  resources. 

PRINCIPAL   DRAINAGE   BASINS. 

In  order  to  enter  upon  a  detailed  discussion  of  the  water  supply  of 
the  arid  region  it  is  necessary  to  consider  the  different  portions  in  turn, 
and  for  this  purpose  the  best  method  of  grouping  the  facts  is  by  nat- 
ural divisions,  viz,  by  drainage  basins.  The  political  divisions  into 
states  and  counties  unfortunately  do  not  coincide  with  lines  of  drain- 
age, except  in  a  few  instances,  so  that  the  discussion  of  water  supply 
according  to  these  arbitrary  lines  is  less  satisfactory  than  by  the  way 
first  mentioned.  The  small  map  (Fig.  51)  shows  the  relative  location 
and  area  of  the  larger  drainage  basins  of  the  west  and  their  position 
with  reference  to  the  states  and  territories,  the  size  of  these  in  square 
miles  being  shown  in  the  accompanying  table,  page  33.  According  to 
this  table  the  total  area  of  the  part  of  the  United  States  west  of  the 
100th  meridian  is  1,380,175  square  miles,  not  including  thirty-six  coun- 
ties in  the  western  portion  of  Oregon  and  Washington,  the  aggregate 
area  of  these,  including  water  surface,  being  61,840  square  miles.  Add- 
ing this  amount,  the  total  area  of  the  land  and  water  surface  west  of 
the  100th  meridian  is  1,442,015  square  miles.  The,  thirty-six  western 


32 


WATER  SUPPLY  FOR  IRRIGATION. 


counties  of  Oregon  and  Washington  above  mentioned  have  been  de- 
ducted because  of  the  fact  that  in  a  study  of  water  supply  and  irriga- 
tion it  has  been  found  convenient  to  omit  from  consideration  these 
comparatively  well-watered  areas.  The  1,380,175  square  miles  above 
mentioned  include  the  area  of  several  large  lakes,  the  principal  of  these 


Fig.  51. — Index  map  of  large  drainage  basins. 

being  in  Utah,  California,  and  Montana.  The  aggregate  area  of  these 
water  surfaces  is  8,215  square  miles,  which  being  deducted  gives  the 
total  area  of  land  surface  used  on  page  33.1 

The  order  usually  adopted  is  that  by  which  the  head  waters  are  first 
considered  and  then  the  tributaries  in  succession.    The  large  drainage 

1  The  areas  of  States  and  counties  are  those  given  by  Henry  Gannett,  geographer  of  the  Eleventh 
Census,  in  census  bulletin  No.  23,  January  21, 1891. 


NEWELL.] 


AREA    OF    DRAINAGE    BASINS. 


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rH                                            rH                rH                (M 

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Drainage  basin. 

Total  area  in- 
cluding water 
surface  

°E         -'-.'•                       J2    **    "hrS"^      •      '^ 

"3 

u 

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3   "  - 

ff: 

North  coast,  Cali- 
fornia   
Southwest  Oregon  i  . 
Snake  
Columbia  in  Mon- 
tana, Idaho,  and 
Washington  k  

Pnliimh1a.iii  OTAO-nTi  k 

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4       d        »        fl        • 

13  GEOL.,  FT.  Ill- 


34  WATER    SUPPLY   FOR   IRRIGATION. 

basins  in  this  and  preceding  reports  are  taken  in  this  general  order 
wherever  applicable,  and  from  the  east  toward  the  west,  as  shown 
in  the  table.  In  this  report  the  drainage  basin  of  the  Missouri,  Yel- 
lowstone and  Platte  will  be  described. 


MISSOURI  RIVER  BASIN. 
LOCATION  AND   AREA. 

The  Missouri  basin,  as  the  term  is  used  in  reports  concerning  the 
arid  region,  usually  includes  the  area  tributary  to  the  river  of  that 
name  above  the  junction  of  the  Yellowstone.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
drainage  basins  of  the  Yellowstone,  Little  Missouri,  Cheyenne,  Platte, 
and  other  rivers  form  parts  of  the  great  basin  of  the  Missouri  river, 
but  since  each  of  these  streams  flows  nearly  to  or  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
arid  region  before  uniting  their  waters  in  this  great  drainage  system,  it 
is  more  convenient  to  consider  them  as  independent  basins  and  at  the 
same  time  to  apply  the  name  "  Missouri"  to  the  head  water  catchment 
area  of  that  stream. 

.  The  total  area  of  this  basin  is  95,093  square  miles,  of  which  13,315 
square  miles,  or  14  per  cent,  is  within  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  leaving 
81,778  square  miles,  all  in  the  state  of  Montana,  with  the  exception  of 
a  few  square  miles  in  the  Yellowstone  National  park.  In  this  discus- 
sion of  the  water  supply  and  the  condition  of  irrigation  reference  is 
made  only  to  the  portion  of  the  basin  in  Montana,  few  facts  being  avail- 
able concerning  the  part  in  Canada.  The  boundaries  of  Montana  have 
been  laid  out  in  such  a  manner  that  they  include  not  only  the  greater 
part  of  the  Missouri  basin,  but  also  in  the  southeast  a  portion  of  the 
Yellowstone  basin,  and  on  the  west  a  large  part  of  Clarke  fork  of  the 
Columbia.  The  state  line  west  of  the  Yellowstone  National  park  fol- 
lows for  a  portion  of  its  course  the  rim  of  the  basin,  but  with  this  single 
exception  it  has  been  located  with  reference  to  arbitrary  lines  rather 
than  with  regard  to  natural  divisions. 

The  drainage  basin  of  the  Missouri,  as  shown  by  PL  cvm,  is  bounded 
on  the  west  and  southwest  by  the  main  range  of  the  Eocky  mountains, 
which  forms  the  continental  divide,  separating  the  waters  of  the  Mis- 
souri from  those  of  the  Columbia.  On  the  southwest,  where  this  divide 
forms  the  state  line  between  Montana  and  Idaho,  it  separates  the  basin 
from  the  head  waters  of  Snake  river,  or,  as  it  was  formerly  known,  Lewis 
fork  of  the  Columbia.  Further  to  the  north,  beyond  the  point  where 
the  Bitterroot  mountains  separate  from  the  Rockies,  these  latter  form  the 
watershed  between  the  Missouri  and  Clarke  fork  of  the  Columbia.  Thus 
the  Missouri  basin  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  Yellowstone,  a  part 
of  which  is  in  Montana,  on  the  southwest  by  the  Snake  basin  in  the 
state  of  Idaho,  and  on  the  west  by  Clarke  fork  in  Montana. 


AREA    OF    MISSOURI    BASIN.  35 

ELEVATION   AND  TOPOGRAPHY, 

The  basin  as  a  whole  slopes  toward  the  north  and  east,  the  highest 
ground,  as  shown  by  PI.  cviii,  being  in  the  southwestern  corner  and 
along  the  western  edge.  The  waters  flow,  therefore,  in  a  general  northerly 
and  easterly  course,  leaving  the  basin  not  far  from  the  northeastern 
corner.  The  rim  of  the  basin  is  sharply  denned  in  the  higher  portion, 
but  in  the  eastern  half,  where  the  divides  are  low  and  rolling,  the 
watershed  is  formed  by  prairie  country,  and  therefore  must  be  arbitra- 
rily designated. 

By  means  of  the  contours  given  on  PI.  cvm  an  estimate  has  been  pre- 
pared of  the  area  of  the  basin  at  various  elevations.  From  an  inspec- 
tion of  this  table,  given  below,  it  is  apparent  that  over  one-half  of  the 
basin  is  at  an  elevation  below  4,000  feet.  In  fact,  the  altitude  is  far 
less  than  it  is  popularly  supposed  to  be. 

Square  milea. 
Total  area  in  Montana 81,  778 


Area  under  2,000  feet 618 

Area  from  2,000  to  3,000  feet 26, 068 

Area  from  3,000  to  4,000  feet 1 22,  317 

Area  from  4,000  to  5,000  feet 13,  314 

Area  from  5,000  to  7,000  feet 13,  218 

Area  over  7,000  feet 6,243 

LAND  CLASSIFICATION. 

The  small  map  on  PI.  cvm  shows  not  only  the  general  elevation  of  va- 
rious parts  of  the  basin,  but,  by  means  of  the  color,  the  general  char- 
acter of  the  lands  within  this  area.  Three  general  divisions  have  been 
made  based  upon  the  size  or  kind  of  the  vegetation  as  determined  by 
climate  and  altitude.  The  darkest  shade  indicates  in  a  broad  way  the 
relative  location  of  the  forests  or  timber  land,  while  the  lighter  green 
shows  the  area  covered  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  by  scattered  trees, 
suitable  for  firewood,  occasionally  furnishing  material  for  purposes  of 
fencing.  The  remainder  of  the  basin,  colored  a  light  brown,  supports 
a  scanty  vegetation,  and,  for  the  most  part,  may  be  considered  as  pas- 
ture land,  including  under  this  designation  vast  tracts  whose  soil  is 
arable,  and  which,  with  an  abundant  water  supply,  would  produce  large 
crops. 

Dividing  the  total  area  of  the  Missouri  basin  in  Montana,  viz,  81,728 
square  miles,  into  these  three  classes,  it  has  been  found  that  there  are 
in  arable  or  pasture  land,  approximately,  64,398  square  miles,  in  land 
more  or  less  covered  with  scattering  firewood  10,640  square  miles,  leav- 
ing for-the  timbered  land  6,740  square  miles.  These  designations  are 
largely  arbitrary,  for  there  is,  unquestionably,  good  pasturage  within 
the  areas  designated  as  being  covered  with  timber  or  firewood,  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  there  are  trees  and  shrubs  of  value  to  the  farmer  scat- 


36  WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 

tered  along  all  of  the  principal  streams  in  the  eastern  end  of  the  State. 
There  is  little,  if  any,  agricultural  land  within  the  areas  covered  in 
whole  or  part  by  trees,  most  of  this  being  rough  broken  land  or  high 
mountains. 

The  arable  and  pasture  lands  shown  on  the  map  include  the  locali- 
ties where  agriculture  is  carried  on,  or  where  the  soil  is  such  that  it 
could  be  developed.  Unfortunately,  however,  as  shown  by  the  char- 
acter of  the  vegetation,  the  rainfall  is  deficient  and  farming  can  not  be 
successful  without  the  artificial  application  of  water.  It  has  been  found 
that  in  the  census  year  ending  May  31, 1890,  crops  were  raised  by  irri- 
gation upon  234,036  acres,  or  365-7  square  miles.  This  is  only  0-57  per 
cent  of  the  total  area  designated  above  as  arable  or  pasture  lands. 
The  localities  at  which  irrigation  was  carried  on  in  the  census  year 
are  shown  by  the  dark  spots  on  the  map,  PI.  cvm. 

Besides  the  irrigated  portions  of  the  arable  or  pasture  lands,  there 
are  along  the  rivers  many  thousands  of  acres  which  by  a  careful  utiliza- 
tion of  the  water  supply  can  be  brought  under  cultivation.  The  extent 
to  which  agriculture  can  be"  developed  is,  however,  dependent  wholly 
upon  the  thoroughness  of  the  conservation  of  the  flood  waters  and  upon 
the  degree  to  which  the  large  rivers  are  utilized.  The  area  irrigable, 
while  governed  somewhat  by  the  topography,  is  controlled  by  the 
manner  in  which  the  water  supply  is  employed.  It  is  not  possible,  there- 
fore, to  make  any  rigid  distinction  between  the  irrigable  lands  and  the 
arable  or  pasture  lands,  but  on  the  small  map  the  attempt  is  made  to 
show  by  a  darker  shade  the  relative  area  and  location  of  the  lands 
which,  under  the  best  circumstances,  can  possibly  be  reclaimed  by  irri- 
gation. The  area  thus  colored  aggregates  in  round  numbers  1,000,000 
acres,  or  1,562  square  miles. 

EXTENT    OF   IRRIGATION. 

The  acreage  irrigated  in  the  Missouri  basin,  as  above  stated,  aggre- 
gated 234,036  acres.  This  includes  chiefly  the  area  from  which  crops 
were  obtained  during  the  census  year.  The  areas  colored  dark  green 
on  the  small  map  are  found  mainly  in  the  western  and  southern  part 
of  the  basin  near  the  points  where  the  smaller  tributaries  issue  from 
the  mountains  and  flow  out  into  the  first  open  valleys.  Agriculture 
by  means  of  irrigation  has  already  developed  to  such  an  extent  that 
all  of  the  streams  which  can  be  readily  diverted,  by  one  or  two  farmers 
or  a  number  of  neighbors  acting  in  partnership,  have  been  utilized 
nearly  to  their  full  extent  during  the  summer  season,  and  there  remains 
little  water  unappropriated  except  that  which  flows  during  the  spring 
floods. 

While  on  the  one  hand  the  demand  for  water  has  already  exceeded 
the  supply  along  the  upper  valleys  of  the  Missouri,  further  down,  on 
the  main  river,  there  is  a  large  amount  flowing  at  all  times  01  the  year. 
Unfortunately,  however,  it  is  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 


NEWELL.]  IRRIGATION    IN   MISSOURI    BASIN.  37 

bring  this  water  out  upon  the  vast  extent  of  arable  land,  owing  to  the 
steepness  of  the  banks  and  the  comparatively  slight  fall  of  the  stream. 
There  is  thus  a  striking  contrast  between  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the 
eastern  and  western  ends  of  the  basin.  In  the  latter  locality  are  small 
streams  with  steep  slopes  flowing  through  comparatively  narrow  val- 
leys, the  water  being  widely  distributed  in  the  innumerable  creeks, 
while  in  eastern  Montana  the  water  supply  is  all  concentrated  in  the 
main  rivers  and  the  arable  lands  lie  in  great  blocks  embracing  thou- 
sands of  square  miles. 

The  population  is  located  mainly  in  the  southwestern  portion  of  the 
basin  in  the  valleys  among  the  mountains.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  principal  industry  is  mining,  carried  on  in  the  canyons  or  gulches 
and  among  the  crystalline  rocks  which  contain  the  precious  metals.  If, 
however,  the  only  industry  were  agriculture,  this  portion  of  the  basin 
would  still  be  the  most  prosperous  and  thickly  settled,  from  the  fact 
that  the  small  streams  in  the  mountains  are  widely  distributed  and  the 
waters  can  be  readily  brought  under  control  by  the  efforts  of  individu- 
als or  of  companies.  There  is  one  peculiarity  of  the  topography  of  this 
part  of  the  basin  which  should  be  mentioned,  namely,  the  bench  lands 
which  are  found  in  each  valley  between  the  foothills  and  the  narrow 
bottoms  along  the  streams.  These  bench  lands,  although  sometimes 
having  gravel  upon  the  surface,  are  usually  very  fertile,  and  as  a  rule 
surpass  in  excellence  the  lower  lands  along  the  bottoms  of  the  valleys. 
They  are  usually  cut  by  deep,  narrow  ravines,  or  coulees,  as  they  are 
locally  known,  formed  by  the  action  of  tributaries  entering  the  main 
stream. 

These  bench  lands  are  remnants  of  the  beds  deposited  in  former 
times  from  lake  waters  before  the  rivers  had  cut  their  present  outlets. 
The  streams  leaving  each  valley  pass  through  narrow  canyons  eroded 
by  the  flowing  waters.  Before  these  canyons  were  cut,  the  waters 
being  held  back,  the  material  washed  from  the  mountain  was  depos- 
ited, partially  filling  the  deep  basins.  Gradually,  however,  the  escap- 
ing water  wore  down  the  outlets  until  the  bottoms  of  these  lakes  were 
laid  bare,  and  continuing  its  downward  course  each  stream  cut  trenches 
in  the  lake  bottoms,  in  which  the  streams  now  flow.  Thus  each  impor- 
tant stream  in  the  western  end  of  the  basin  flows  at  some  distance 
below  the  general  level  of  the  bench  lands,  and  its  waters  can  be 
diverted  with  ease  only  upon  the  narrow  flood  plain.  The  principal 
problem  presented  to  the  irrigation  engineer  in  this  part  of  Montana 
is  that  of  taking  the  water  from  the  larger  streams  out  upon  these  rich 
lands.  The  matter  is  complicated  by  the  fact  that  they  are  deeply  cut 
by  the  coulees  traversing  them  at  short  distances,  and  also  by  the 
condition  of  development  of  irrigation,  viz,  the  fact  that  many  of  the 
improvements  made  at  present  stand  in  the  way  of  more  comprehen- 
sive schemes. 


38  WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 

WATER    MEASUREMENTS. 

The  localities  at  which  stream  measurements  have  been  made  by 
this  survey  and  the  results  obtained  have  been  described  in  previous 
aunua.1  reports  of  the  irrigation  survey.1  Some  additional  data  have 
been  obtained  since  the  preparation  of  the  last  report  and  are  presented 
herewith,  together  with  a  brief  resume  of  the  materials  available  for 
study  of  the  fluctuations  of  water  supply. 

The  three  rivers,  the  Gallatin,  Madison,  and  Jefferson,  which  unite 
to  form  the  Missouri,  have  been  measured  at  different  times  by  the 
Geological  Survey  and  by  the  Missouri  Eiver  Commission.  Continuous 
records  of  discharge  have  been  computed  for  the  Gallatin  above  Gal- 
latin valley,  and  for  the  Madison  near  Eed  Bluff,  while  in  the  Jefferson 
basin  Bedrock  creek  alone  has  been  observed  for  a  series  of  months. 
A  few  measurements  have  been  made  on  the  Jefferson  near  Willow 
creek,  that  on  August  19,  1889,  giving  a  discharge  of  202  second-feet, 
and  on  October  15,  1889,  near  Three  Forks,  333  second-feet.  Single 
measurements  have  also  been  made  of  some  of  the  streams  tributary 
to  the  Jefferson,  viz,  Euby  creek,  Blacktail  Deer  creek,  also  Beaver- 
head  and  Bighole  rivers,  as  noted  in  the  following  pages. 

Several  measurements  have  been  made  of  the  Madison  near  its 
mouth,  that  on  August  17, 1889,  at  Blacks  giving  a  discharge  of  1,104 
second-feet,  and  that  of  October  14,  1889,  at  Three  Forks  1,191  second- 
feet.  Considerable  difficulty  has  been  found  in  obtaining  the  dis- 
charges of  the  three  rivers  near  their  junction,  on  account  of  the  fact 
that  they  divide  into  a  number  of  channels  and  the  height  of  the  water 
in  one  stream  affects  the  others  for  a  considerable  distance  above. 

Below  the  point  at  which  the  Gallatin,  Madison,  and  Jefferson  rivers 
unite  a  number  of  measurements  have  been  made,  showing  that  the 
discharge,  as  obtained  by  gaugings,has  varied  from  about  2,500  second- 
feet  up  to  over  8,500  second-feet.  The  seasonal  fluctuations  undoubt- 
edly cause  a  variation  both  below  and  above  these  figures. 

Besides  the  gauging  stations  of  the  Geological  Survey  at  Tostou, 
Canyon  Ferry  and  Craig,  described  in  former  reports,  records  of  the 
height  of  the  water  have  been  kept  by  the  Missouri  Eiver  Commission 
at  a  number  of  places,  as  shown  by  the  following  list,  which  includes 
all  known  data. 

At  Gallaher's  Ferry,  about  200  yards  above  the  mouth  of  the  Gal- 
latin river,  the  height  of  the  river  has  been  recorded  from  August  to 
November,  1890. 

At  Gallatin,  Montana,  records  of  river  height  have  been  kept  from 
July  to  December,  1 890.  A  measurement  made  at  this  point  on  August 
6, 1890,  gave  a  discharge  of  2,640  second-feet.  (In  the  Twelth  Aim. 
Sept.,  pt.  2,  p.  237,  this  is  erroneously  given  as  2,460  second-feet.) 

1  United  States  Geological  Survey,  Eleventh  Ann.  Kept.,  pt.  2,  1889-'90,  Washington,  1891,  pp.  38-43, 
93-94,  107;  also  Twelfth  Aim.  Kept.,  pt.  2,  1890-'91,  pp.  236-238,  346-347. 


NEWELL.]  GAUGING    STATIONS    ALONG    MISSOURI.  39 

At  Toston,  about  30  miles  below  Three  Forks,  the  Geological  Survey 
made  six  measurements  from  April  8  to  July  26,  1890,  the  results  being 
shown  on  page  42  of  the  second  annual  report  on  irrigation.  The  Mis- 
souri Kiver  Commission  kept  records  of  height  from  August  16, 1890, 
to  February  28,  1891.  The  elevation  of  low  water  of  1890  at  this  place 
was  about  3,879  feet. 

At  Townsend,  43  miles  more  or  less  below  Three  Forks,  a  permanent 
gauge  was  established  October  1,  1891,  by  the  Missouri  Eiver  Com- 
mission. 

At  Canyon  Ferry,  about  18  miles  from  Helena,  gaugings  were  made 
by  the  Geological  Survey,  giving  the  discharge  for  September,  October, 
and  November,  1889.  A  measurement  made  on  September  18,1890, 
by  the  Missouri  River  Commission  near  Canyon  Ferry  gave  a  discharge 
of  2,682  second-feet.  The  elevation  of  low  water  was  in  1890  approxi- 
mately 3,629  feet. 

At  French  Bar,  71  miles  below  Three  Forks,  the  discharge,  as 
measured  by  T.  P.  Roberts  on  July  31, 1872,  was  10,000  second-feet. 

At  Stubbs  Ferry,  which  is  given  as  being  73  miles  from  Three  Forks 
a  gauging  was  made  in  1882  by  the  Missouri  River  Commission,  show- 
ing a  discharge  of  3,770  second-feet.  The  records  of  river  height  have 
been  kept  from  July,  1890,  to  January  17,  1891. 

At  Craig,  a  locality  above  the  mouth  of  the  Dearborn  river,  a  gaug- 
ing station  was  established  by  the  Geological  Survey  and  continued  in 
operation  through  1891.  The  elevation  of  low  water  of  1890,  as  deter- 
mined by  levelings  made  by  the  Missouri  River  Commission,  was  about 
3,629  feet, 

At  Great  Falls,  Montana,  records  of  river  height  were  kept  from 
September  to  December,  1890,  by  the  Missouri  River  Commission,  and 
possibly  have  been  continued  by  the  water-power  company  at  that 
place. 

At  Fort  Benton  gaugings  have  been  k2pt  with  more  or  less  regular- 
ity from  1873  to  1876  and  from  1881  to  1890.  In  August  of  this  latter 
year  a  permanent  station  was  established,  taking  as  zero  the  low 
water  of  1889.  The  daily  gauge  height  from  1873  .to  1876  has  been 
published  in  lithographed  form  by  Prof.  Thomas  Russell,  of  the  Weather 
Bureau.1 

PRECIPITATION. 

Measurements  of  the  amount  of  precipitation  have  been  made  at  a 
number  of  points  within  this  basin  by  the  Signal  Service  of  the  U.  S. 
Army,  some  of  the  records  being  continued  for  over  fifteen  years. 
The  results  of  these  measurements  show  that  the  rainfall,  as  measured 
at  the  various  stations,  varies  from  lO^to  20  inches,  the  average  being 
about  15  inches,  the  greater  part  occurring  in  the  months  of  May  and 
June.  The  following  list  gives  the  names  and  location  of  the  more 

1  Stages  of  the  Mississippi  and  of  its  principal  tributaries,  1860  to  1889,  pt.  2,  pp.  217-220. 


40 


WATER    SUPPLY   FOR   IRRIGATION. 


important  of  these  stations,  with  the  length  of  time  during  which  ob- 
servations were  made,  and  the  mean  annual  rainfall  as  derived  from 
records  furnished  by  the  Signal  Service. 


Locality. 

Length 
of  record. 

Depth  of 
rainfall. 

Tears. 
15 
9 
11 
8 
2 
17 
16 
9 
7 
1 
7 
23 

Inches. 
19-6 
16-0 
14-3 
14-4 
21-2 
10-2 
13-3 
15-0 
16-6 
6-7 
10-5 
12-3 

Fort  Shaw  on  Sun  river  

These  localities  are  mainly  in  the  valleys  or  on  the  plains,  and  there- 
fore the  results  of  the  measurements  do  not  represent  the  rainfall  and 
snowfall  upon  the  high  mountains,  which  undoubtedly  is  considerably 
d-es£&s£gti~>si  greater.  It  is  safe  to  assume  that 
the  precipitation  upon  the  summits 
is  at  least  from  20  to  30  inches,  and 
upon  the  valley  lands  of  the  west- 
ern part  of  the  Missouri  basin  at 
from  15  to  20  inches.  In  the  east- 
ern end  of  the  basin,  however,  as 
f=f  shown  by  the  measurements  at 
•2  Poplar  river  and  Fort  Buford,  the 
<S  rainfall  rarely  amounts  to  over  15 
^  inches,  ranging  usually  from  10  to 
•§  12  inches  in  depth. 
3  The  amount  of  rain  falling  in  any 
|  one  year  may  vary  widely  from  the 
i  averages  given  in  this  statement, 
%  which  nevertheless  serve  to  indi- 
cate in  a  general  way  the  distribu- 
'  tion  of  precipitation  over  the  basin. 
The  variation  from  year  to  year  is 
exceedingly  irregular,  but  compar- 
ing one  year  with  another,  it  ap- 
pears from  the  records  that  there 
was  a  general  decrease  during  the 

FIG.  52.— Diagram  of  mean  monthly  rainfall  at  four 

stations  in  the  Missouri  basin.  latter  part  of  the  decade,  the  depth 

of  rainfall  in  1889  and  1890  being  at  most  stations  below  the  average. 

The  distribution  of  the  precipitation  by  months  is  shown  graphically 
on  Fig.' 52,  the  results  at  four  stations  having  the  longest  record  being 
selected.  These  averages,  although  obtained  from  widely  separated 


FOHT  ELLIS. 

Near  Bozeman,  Mont. 
Elevation,  4,878  feet. 

323,         •                     «TM 

21ft.            II                      2  IN 

iillllilllii 

FORT  SHAW. 

On  Sun  river,  Mont. 
Elevation,  3,550  feet. 

FOBT  BENTON. 

On  Missouri  river. 
Elevation,  2,730  feet. 

FORT  BUFORD. 

At  junction  of  Mis- 
souri    and     Yellow- 
stone rivers. 
Elevation,  1,930  feet. 

»IN.                                  VIM 

*IM>     *      _                             7IM 

Illlllllllll 

VIH                            »m 

21**.           !•                     UN 

EL..lllllll., 

4IN.  '                                       *IM 

2m,         •  •                 2iN 

.l.lllllll.l 

NEWELL.] 


MONTHLY    RAINFALL   IN   MISSOURI    BASIN. 


41 


localities,  have  a  similar  appearance  in  that  the  greatest  precipitation 
is  in  the  month  of  May,  followed  by  a  slight  decrease  in  June.  During 
the  remaining  months  of  the  year,  however,  there  is  a  decided  range  in 
the  proportion  of  rain  falling,  in  the  case  of  Fort  Benton,  for  example, 
there  being  a  gradual  decrease  to  the  end  of  the  year,  while  at  other 
stations  there  is  great  irregularity. 

The  distribution  of  rain  throughout  the  year  is  shown  by  the  follow- 
ing table,  which  gives  the  average  precipitation  per  month  as  obtained 
from  the  stations  named  on  page  40,  and  also  gives  the  percentage  of  the 
amount  for  the  year : 


Inches. 

Per 

cent. 

January  

0'81 

6-1 

February  

0-65 

4-9 

March  

0-82 

6-1 

April  

1-02 

7-7 

May  

2-51 

18-8 

2-10 

15-7 

July  .       .                         

1-29 

9-7 

August  .     ... 

1-03 

7-7 

September  

1-03 

7-7 

October  

0'85 

6-4 

November  

0-58 

4-3 

December  

0-66 

4-9 

Total  

13-35 

100-0 

This  peculiar  distribution  of  the  rainfall  is  in  itself  favorable  to  agri- 
culture, for,  taking  the  months  of  May,  June,  and  July  as  the  principal 
part  of  the  growing  season,  it  appears  that  in  an  ordinary  year  over 
one-third  of  the  rain  falls  during  these  months,  and  thus,  although  the 
rainfall  is  as  a  whole  deficient,  yet  what  there  is  comes  at  the  time  when 
it  will  do  the  most  good. 

With  this  brief  summary  of  the  principal  facts  concerning  the  basin 
as  a  whole,  a  more  detailed  description  of  the  water  supply  in  each  sub- 
basin  is  given  in  the  following  pages,  taking  these  in  order  from  the 
head  waters  down,  beginning  with  the  Gallatin,  Madison,  and  Jefferson, 
and  preserving  in  general  the  geographic  order. 

GALLATIN  RIVER. 

The  Gallatin  river  rises  in  the  high  mountains  in  the  northwestern 
corner  of  the  Yellowstone  National  park  and  in  the  ranges  north  of  this. 
The  river  flows  in  a  general  northerly  course  through"  a  succession  of 
narrow  valleys  and  canyons  for  a  distance  of  about  50  miles  from  its 
head  waters,  finally  entering  the  Gallatin  valley,  one  of  the  finest  agri- 
cultural areas  in  Montana,  or  even  in  any  of  the  western  states.  At 
the  lower  end  of  this  valley  the  stream  receives  the  waters  of  the  East 
Gallatin,  which  drains  the  short  range  of  the  same  name.  The  small 
tributaries  coming  from  these  mountains  unite  near  the  base  and  flow 
in  a  general  northwesterly  direction  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  Gal- 
latin valley.  At  a  distance  of  about  10  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the 
East  Gallatiu  the  main  stream  enters  the  Missouri. 


42  WATER    SUPPLY   FOK   IRRIGATION. 

The  water  supply  of  the  Gallatin  valley  is  peculiarly  favorable  to 
irrigation,  and  this,  with  the  rich  soil  and  temperate  climate,  has  ren- 
dered possible  a  high  state  of  agricultural  development.  On  the  east- 
ern side  of  the  valley  is  Bozeman,  and  a  number  of  smaller  towns  are 
scattered  about.  The  small  streams  coming  in  from  the  east  and  south 
have  enabled  irrigators  to  bring  under  cultivation  large  areas  of  crops 
at  moderate  expenditure  of  labor,  and  as  these  convenient  sources  of 
supply  have  been  utilized  in  turn  and  population  increased,  they  have 
rendered  possible  the  construction  of  large  systems  of  irrigation  deriv- 
ing water  from  the  principal  river,  the  West  Gallatin.  Thus  by  the 
distribution  of  small  streams  irrigation  has  grown  rapidly  and  without 
interfering  greatly  with  the  thorough  utilization  of  the  magnificent 
water  supply. 

As  has  been  previously  stated,  the  amount  of  water  entering  the  Gal- 
latin valley  by  means  of  the  main  stream  has  been  measured  at  a  sta- 
tion below  the  mouth  of  Spanish  creek  near  where  the  river  leaves  the 
canyon.  The  total  area  drained  is  850  square  miles,  most  of  this  being 
high,  steep,  mountain  areas  heavily  covered  with  timber.  The  run-off, 
therefore,  is  unusually  large,  being  from  13  to  14  inches  in  depth  over 
the  whole  basin ;  that  is  to  say,  if  the  water  flowing  from  this  drainage 
area  during  one  year  were  put  back  upon  a  plain  of  the  same  size  it 
would  cover  it  to  the  depth  of  13  or  14  inches.  The  average  rainfall  is 
not  known,  but  probably  can  not  be  much  less  than  30  inches.  If  this 
be  the  case  the  run-off  represents  nearly  one-half  of  the  precipitation 
upon  the  catchment  area. 

The  discharge  of  the  stream  has  varied  from  320  to  6,800  second-feet? 
the  average  for  three  years  being  over  950  second-feet.  This  is  equiva- 
lent to  an  average  discharge  of  1-12  second-foot  for  each  square  mile 
drained,  the  amount  varying  at  different  times  of  the  year  from  about 
four-tenths  of  a  second-foot  up  to  8  second-feet  per  square  mile.  This 
rate  of  run-off  is  probably  greater  than  that  from  the  East  Gallatiu 
range,  from  the  fact  that  the  topography  in  the  latter  case  is  less 
favorable  to  rapid  discharge  of  the  precipitation. 

In  Fig.  53  is  given  the  daily  discharge  of  the  West  Gallatin  river  at 
the  gauging  station  previously  mentioned  from  May,  1891,  to  the  middle 
of  July,  1892,  with  the  exception  of  the  month  of  April,  1892.  As  will 
be  seen  by  the  inspection  of  the  diagram,  the  flood  discharge  of  1892 
was  far  greater  than  that  of  1891,  this  latter  being  represented  by  the 
lighter  line.  The  diagram  is  not  sufficiently  high  to  show  the  maximum 
point,  6,800  second-feet,  reached  in  June,  1892.  Comparison  should  be 
made  with  the  diagram  on  PL  LX,  in  the  Twelfth  Annual  Report,  giving 
the  discharge  at  this  station  from  1889  to  1891. l  On  this  plate  the  dis- 
charge for  1891  represented  by  a  dotted  line,  is  seen  to  be  somewhat 
less  than  the  discharge  for  1890,  this  latter,  however,  being  decidedly 


1  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Twelfth  Ann.  Kept.,  pt.  2,  Irrigation,  p.  228. 


NEWELL.  ] 


DISCHARGE    OF    GALLATIN   RIVER. 


43 


lower  than  the  quantity  shown  011  Fig.  53.  This  difference  is  best  ex- 
hibited by  the  table  of  mean  monthly  and  annual  discharge  shown  on 
page  98,  where  the  mean  annual  discharges  for  1890,  1891,  and  1892 
are  respectively  871,  880,  and  1,123  second-feet.  The  rapid  fluctuations 
shown  on  the  diagram  as  taking  place  during  time^  of  high  water  are 
undoubtedly  due  largely  to  changes  of  temperature. 

Taking  the  mean  annual  discharge  of  the  West  Gallatin  as  950  sec- 
ond-feet, this,  with  a  water  duty  of  100  acres  to  the  second-foot,  should 
irrigate  95,000  acres.  It  would  be  necessary,  however,  to  store  a  large 
part  of  this  water  in  order  to  make  it  available.  By  complete  systems 
of  storage  and  careful  use  of  the  water  this  duty  could  be  somewhat 


4000 


3000  S 


2000^ 


1000 


FIG.  T>;J. — Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  West  Gallatin  river  below  Spanish  creek,  Mont.,  1891-'92. 

increased,  rendering  it  possible  to  cover  at  least  100,000  acres,  an  amount 
which  would  probably  embrace  the  greater  part  of  the  irrigable  land 
along  the  stream. 

The  Gallatin  valley,  as  well  as  the  great  part  of  the  catchment  area 
of  the  river,  is  included  within  Gallatin  county,  Montana,  the  lines  of 
this  county  extending  in  a  westerly  direction  to  the  Jefferson  river  and 
thus  including  the  valleys  at  the  mouth  of  Madison  river  and  Willow 
creek.  The  statistics  of  the  Eleventh  census  show  that  in  this  county 
there  were  434  irrigated  farms,  upon  which  46,901  acres  of  crops  were 
raised,  the  average  size  of  the  irrigated  holding  being  thus  108  acres. 
These  farms  were  mainly  along  the  eastern  edge  of  the  Gallatin  valley 
in  the  vicinity  of  Bozeman  and  northwesterly  from  this  locality  along 
the  foothills. 

The  altitude  of  Gallatin  valley  may  be  taken  in  round  numbers  as 


44 


WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 


from  4,000  to  5,000  feet  above  sea  level.  At  Bozeman,  OH  its  eastern 
side,  the  railroad  track  is  at  an  elevation  of  4,754  feet,  while  at  Gal- 
latin,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  valley  near  the  Missouri  river,  the  ele- 
vation of  the  track  is  4,032  feet.  The  fall  is  thus  sufficiently  great  at 
all  points  to  render  possible  the  diversion  of  water  from  the  streams 
upon  nearly  all  of  the  bench  lands,  so  that  there  are  few  limitations  of 
this  kind  to  the  development  of  irrigation  systems. 

The  water  from  the  small  streams  which  make  up  the  East  Gallatiu 
has  been  appropriated  and  utilized  by  farmers,  the  only  exception 
being  in  the  case  of  waters  during  the  spring  floods.  Toward  the  end 
of  summer  the  streams  become  very  small  and  there  is  not  a  sufficient 
supply  to  fill  the  demands  made  upon  them.  During  the  drought  of 
1889  and  1890  there  was  not  sufficient  water  to  irrigate  all  of  the  land 
under  cultivation,  and  the  necessity  of  storing  some  of  the  surplus 
water  of  spring  became  more  than  ever  apparent.  One  or  two  enter- 
prises of  this  character  have  been  begun,  but  as  yet  have  not  come 
into  active  operation.  There  have  been  many  complaints  of  injustice 
on  the  part  of  various  individuals  claiming  water  from  the  small 
streams,  some  of  the  older  settlers  asserting  that  they  have  been 
deprived  of  what  was  rightfully  theirs,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  many 
of  the  later  comers  assert  that  the  waters  have  not  been  fairly  divided. 

The  principal  irrigating  streams,  taken  in  order  from  the  West  Gal- 
latin  easterly  around  the  valley,  are  given  below,  together  with  the 
average  amount  of  water  flowing  during  the  irrigating  season  as  esti- 
mated by  a  resident  of  Bozeman : 


Second- feet. 

Wilson  creek 16 

Bear  creek 20 

Cottonwood  creek 30 

Middle  creek 50 

Bozeman  creek 24 

Reservation  creek 24 


Second- feet. 

Bridger  creek 30 

Little  Cottonwood  creek 12 

Spring  creek 20 

Reese  creek 20 

Dry  creek 16 


Bozeman,  Reservation,  and  Bridger  creeks  unite  to  form  the  East 
Gallatin  river.  The  streams  below  this,  namely,  Little  Cottonwood, 
Spring,  Eeese,  and  Dry,  seldom  reach  the  river  except  during  the 
spring  floods.  The  water  supply  from  the  streams  named  above,  to- 
gether with  that  taken  from  the  West  Gallatin  river,  aggregates  522 
second-feet,  assuming  that  the  amount  contributed  by  the  canals  from 
this  latter  river  is  as  follows:  West  Gallatin  and  Bozeman  canal,  100 
second-feet;  Excelsior  canal,  100  second-feet,  and  Middle  Creek  ditch, 
60  second- feet. 

Near  the  edges  of  the  valley,  among  the  foothills,  a  few  'crops  can 
occasionally  be  raised  without  irrigation.  For  example,  winter  wheat 
in  years  of  abundant  snowfall  yields  largely.  Also  on  the  low  grounds 
along  the  river,  where  the  fall  is  slight,  are  areas  where  irrigation  is 
not  essential,  but  these  are  comparatively  small,  and  it  may  be  said 


\ 


U.S.GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 


Oeo.S.Harria&Sons  LittvPhils 


THIRTEENTH  ANNUAL  REP.  PL..CVI1I. 


1O70 


1O6° 


THE  MISSOURI    BASiN 


NEWELL.]  IRRIGATION    IN    GALLATIN   VALLEY.   .  45 

that  the  value  of  the  lands  of  the  valley  rests  immediately  upon  the 
amount  of  water  supply  and  the  thoroughness  with  which  this  is 
utilized. 

While  there  has  been  a  considerable  development  of  agriculture  by 
means  of  the  waters  of  the  smaller  streams,  the  greatest  increase  of 
area  tilled  since  the  census  year  comes  through  the  construction  and 
extension  of  a  few  large  canals  taking  water  from  the  West  Gallatiu 
river.  These  head  in  or  near  the  mouth  of  the  canyon  and  take  the 
water  out  upon  both  sides  of  the  river,  covering  on  the  west  side  at 
least  a  large  portion  of  the  bench  lands.  There  are  two  canals  on  the 
eas*t  side,  the  Bozeman  and  West  Gallatin  canal  and  the  Excelsior, 
these  running  toward  the  northeast  in  the  direction  of  Bozeman  and 
approximately  parallel  to  each  other.  The  latter  was  built  by  an  asso- 
ciation of  farmers  in  the  attempt  to  secure  water  at  less  rates  than  those 
offered  by  the  first-named  company.  - 

The  canal  of  the  West  Gallatin  Irrigation  Company  heads  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river  a  little  over  3  miles  above  Salesville,  and  after  follow- 
ing the  stream  for  several  miles  turns  off  to  the  west,  passing  through 
a  ridge  or  spur  by  means  of  a  tunnel  and  then  out  upon  the  bench 
lands  lying  between  the  Gallatin  and  Madison  rivers.  The  surface  is 
greatly  eroded  by  small  streams  which  flow  in  spring  from  the  moun- 
tains, and  many. of  these  gulches  are  crossed  by  flumes.  The  total 
length  of  this  canal  as  completed  during  1891  was  23  miles,  and  the 
average  bottom  width  14  feet.  It  can  be  made  to  cover  approximately 
60,000  acres,  the  greater  part  if  not  all  of  which  is  arable. 

Besides  the  three  large  canals  mentioned  above  there  are  many 
ditches  taking  water  from  both  sides  of  the  stream  and  carrying  it  out 
upon  the  land  in  the  lower  end  of  the  valley  and  over  toward  Three 
Forks.  Some  of  the  best  farms,  if  not  the  finest  in  the  whole  state,  are 
in  this  vicinity,  and,  as  shown  by  the  irrigators,  the  crops  which  have 
been  produced  can  not  be  excelled  by  any  in  Montana  for  quantity  as 
well  as  quality. 

Settlement  began  in  the  Gallatin  valley,  according  to  statement  of  a 
correspondent,  in  1863,  crops  of  grain  and  vegetables  being  raised  in 
the  following  year.  Since  that  time  there  has  been  a  steady  increase 
year  by  year  in  the  acreage  under  cultivation  by  irrigation,  so  that 
now  a  great  part  of  the  valley  is  covered  by  a  network  of  ditches.  Irri- 
gation is  regarded  by  all  as  indispensable,  although  as  previously 
stated,  there  are  a  few  farms  lying  near  the  mountains  where  it  is 
apparent  that  the  late  spring  and  early  summer  rains  fall  more  copi- 
ously and  later  in  the  season  than  they  do  upon  the  lower  lands,  and 
it  is  here  that  the  winter  wheat  can  be  relied  upon  with  a  reasonable 
degree  of  confidence  to  produce  a  remunerative  crop.  By  irrigation, 
however,  the  yield  could  be  greatly  increased,  and  it  is  only  because 
this  is  impracticable  that  the  so-called  dry  farming  is  attempted. 

On  the  lower,  moist  grounds  along  the  rivers  or  near  the  swamps  in 


46  WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 

the  valley  large  crops  have  been  raised  from  the  time  of  the  settlement 
of  the  valley  without  the  soil  apparently  losing  its  fertility,  but,  unfor- 
tunately, the  alkaline  salts  tend  to  develop  in  such  localities,  destroy- 
ing the  value  of  the  land  unless  great  ca*re  is  used  to  neutralize  the 
effect  of  these  minerals.  It  is  stated  that  land  in  this  valley  has  been 
producing  wheat,  oats,  and  barley  for  over  twenty  years  without  signs 
of  deterioration,  and  now  produces  from  35  to  45  bushels  of  wheat  per 
acre  without  artificial  fertilizers. 

Until  the  drought  of  1889  the  farmers  deemed  it  sufficient  to  provide 
irrigation  for  only  a  small  portion  of  their  farms,  relying  upon  seepage 
to  furnish  sufficient  moisture  for  other  parts.  The  experience  of  that 
year,  however,  showed  the  necessity  of  having  a  reserve  supply  of 
water  and  of  providing  ditches  to  use  in  time  of  unusual  drought. 
Without  an  ample  supply  and  a  thorough  system  of  distributing  the 
amount  available  irrigation,  in  the  words  of  one  who  has  had  experi- 
ence, "  becomes  a  constant  source  of  trouble  and  worry.  There  is  more 
litigation  and  bad  feeling  among  farmers  over  water  rights  and  the  use 
of  water  than  in  all  other  affairs  combined." 

MADISON   RIVER. 

The  Madison  river  rises  in  the  Yellowstone  National  park  ooi.theast 
of  the  head  waters  of  the  West  Gallatin,  a  great  part  of  the  water  com- 
ing from  the  hot  springs  and  geysers  of  Firehole  river  and  other  streams 
in  the  park.  It  flows  in  a  general  westerly  and  northwesterly  direc- 
tion for  about  40  miles  through  canyons,  then  turns  toward  the  north, 
and  soon  after  enters  Madison  valley,  a  long  narrow  opening  bounded 
at  both  ends  by  canyons  through  which  the  river  flows.  The  catchment 
area  of  this  stream  above  Madison  valley  is  in  most  respects  similar  to 
that  of  the  West  Gallatiu,  with  the  possible  exception  that  the  slopes 
may  be  a  trifle  less  steep  and  the  water  delivered  with  a  little  less 
rapidity  to  the  stream. 

Below  Madison  valley  the  river  continues  in  the  lower  canyon  for  over 
10  miles  before  the  walls  again  fall  back.  The  gauging  station  of  the 
Geological  Survey  is  in  this  canyon  at  a  point  a  short  distance  below 
the  mouth  of  Hot  Spring  creek.  The  measurements  obtained  at  this 
place  represent  therefore  the  amount  of  water  flowing  out  of  Madison 
valley,  a  comparatively  small  quantity  being  added  during  the  passage 
of  the  river  through  the  canyon. 

Madison  valley  lies  at  a  general  altitude  of  from  4,800  to  5,000  feet. 
It  is  over  30  miles  in  length  from  north  to  south,  and  upwards  of  8 
miles  in  width  at  about  its  center.  There  is  no  railroad  in  the  valley, 
the  only  means  of  transportation  being  by  wagon  road  across  the 
mountains.  In  spite  of  this  fact,  however,  agriculture  has  developed 
to  a  comparatively  large  extent  owing  to  the  ready  market  for  supplies 
at  mining  towns  in  that  part  of  the  state. 


NEWELL.]  DISCHARGE    OF    MADISON    RIVER.  47 

The  water  used  for  irrigation  in  Madison  valley  is  taken  almost  exclu- 
sively from  the  creeks  which  come  from  the  mountains  on  both  sides. 
These  on  the  east  rise  to  heights  of  over  10,000  feet,  and  the  streams 
draining  their  slopes  carry  a  considerable  amount  of  water  throughout 
the  year.  The  main  river,  traversing  the  valley  from  south  to  north,  is 
little  used  on  account  of  the  fact  that  small  ditches  can  be  built  from 
the  side  streams  to  cover  the  arable  lands  at  far  less  expense  and  by 
the  exercise  of  less  skill  than  from  the  river. 

As  in  the  case  of  theother  valleys  of  Montana,  the  droughts  of  1889  and 
1890  impressed  upon  the  farmers  the  fact  that  irrigation  works  must 
be  so  planned  and  constructed  that  they  will  receive  an  ample  supply 
under  unusual  circumstances.  In  these  years  far  more  water  than 
usual  was  required,  and  in  1890  much  of  the  land  had  to  be  irrigated 
in  order  to  plow  it,  or  to  enable  the  crops  to  start.  In  ordinary  sea- 
sons no  irrigation  is  necessary  in  this  valley  for  the  first  crop  of  lucern, 
and  it  is  customary  to  give  only  one  watering  to  small  grain.  In  these 
latter  years  of  drought  there  was  no  decided  loss  of  crops,  but  the 
yield  was  not  as  large  as  usual  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  water  at  crit- 
ical times. 

This  valley  is  in  the  east  end  of  Madison  county,  which  extends 
from  the  summits  of  Madison  range  westerly  to  Jefferson  river.  The 
county  thus  includes  several  localities  besides  Madison  valley  in  which 
irrigation  is  practiced.  According  to  the  census  the  total  number  of 
irrigators  in  the  county  was  345  and  the  acreage  of  crop  irrigated  36,819, 
giving  an  average  of  107  acres  per  farm.  It  is  evident  from  the  average 
size  of  the  crop  areas  that  the  methods  of  applying  water  must  be 
comparatively  crude  and  that  it  is  used  with  little  care  and  personal 
attention.  The  irrigating  ditches  are  small  and  are  owned  usually  by 
a  few  farmers,  there  being  but  one  or  two  systems  of  notable  size. 

It  is  probable  that  the  Madison  river  can  be  diverted  by  means  of 
large  canals,  one  on  each  side  of  the  valley,  and  by 'this  means  bring 
under  irrigation  all  of  the  lowland  and  even  a  portion  of  the  benches, 
and  that  by  a  well  planned  system  the  higher  benches  can  be  cultivated 
by  means  of  the  water  from  the  side  streams.  It  will  be  necessary, 
however,  to  make  careful  surveys  before  the  feasibility  of  such  projects 
can  be  determined.  In  the  north  end  of  the  valley  near  Meadow  creek 
is  a  large  area  of  arable  land,  the  water  supply  for  which  is  at  present 
insufficient.  This  can  undoubtedly  be  irrigated,  however,  in  part  at 
least  by  the  construction  of  storage  reservoirs  on  Meadow  creek,  as, 
for  example,  at  North  Meadow  creek  lake,  where,  it  is  stated,  the  watei 
can  readily  be  held.  At  present  the  farmers  in  this  locality  state  that 
owing  to  scarcity  of  water  they  can  not  raise  sufficient  hay  to  carry  the 
stock  through  the  winter,  and  that  there  are  heavy  losses  in  consequence. 

The  gauging  station  of  the  Geological  Survey,  as  noted  in  the  second 
annual  report,  is  below  the  mouth  of  Hot  Spring  creek,  4  miles  from 


48 


WATER  SUPPLY  FOR  IRRIGATION. 


the  town  of  Bed  Bluff,  at  Hay  ward  bridge.1  The  results  of  the  compu- 
tations of  discharge  are  shown  in  Fig.  54,  which  gives  the  daily  dis- 
charge for  1891  and  for  the  first  half  of  1892.  This  diagram  should  be 
compared  with  that  on  PI.  LXI,  in  the  Twelfth  Annual  Keport,2  where  is 
given  diagrammatically  the  quantity  of  water  in  the  river  in  1890  and 
during  the  early  months  of  1891.  .Reference  should  also  be  made  to 
the  table  of  mean  monthly  and  annual  discharge  on  page  92  of  the 
present  report. 


7000 


6000 


'gSOOO 

§ 

• 
• 

•S4000 


§3000 

3 

2000 


1000 


\f 


Fig.  54. — Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  Madison  river  near  Red  Bluff,  Mont.,  189]  and  1892. 

About  6  miles  below  the  gauging  station  the  Madison  river  crosses 
the  county  line  and  enters  Gallatin  county,  and  a  short  distance  beyond 
this  point  the  valley  widens,  opening  out  into  the  western  prolongation 
of  Gallatin  valley.  Comparatively  little  irrigation  is  carried  on  along 
the  river  on  account  of  the  difficulty  and  expense  of  diverting  water. 
From  the  topography  of  the  country,  however,  it  would  appear  that 
large  canals  can  be  built  to  carry  water  upon  the  bench  lands  upon 
each  side.  The  practicability  of  such'  schemes  can  only  be  determined 
by  survey.  The  amount  of  water  available,  as  shown  by  the  stream 
measurements,  is  large,  the  average  for  three  years  being  over  1,900 
second-feet.  This,  at  a  water  duty  of  100  acres  to  the  second-foot, 
would  irrigate  190,000  acres,  an  amount  far  greater  than  can  probably 
be  covered  by  canals.  Thus  the  water  supply  along  the  Madison  river 
if  properly  utilized  will  probably  be  far  in  excess  of  the  demands  made 
upon  it. 


1  See  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Eleventh  Ann.  Kept.,  1889-90,  pt.  2,  p.  40. 

2  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Twelfth  Ann.  Kept.,  pt.  2,  Irrigation,  p.  230. 


NEWELL.]  HEADWATERS    OF    JEFFERSON   RIVER.  49 

The  bench  land  on  the  west  side  of  the  Madison  river  contains  a  body 
of  arable  land  probably  as  good  as  any  in  the  state.  This  land  extends 
from  Three  Forks  up  the  Madison  river  for  10  or  12  miles  and  west  to 
Willow  creek,  a  distance  of  nearly  8  miles.  Little,  if  any,  of  this  laud 
is  under  cultivation,  on  account  of  the  expense  of  constructing  a  canal. 
One-half  of  the  land  to  be  benefited  is  reported  to  belong  to  the  North- 
ern Pacific  railroad,  which  owns  alternate  sections.  At  present  there 
are  only  a  few  hay  ranches  along  the  stream,  the  owners  being  engaged 
in  stock-raising.  Wherever  the  ground  is  sufficiently  moist  a  little  hay 
is  cut  without  irrigation,  but  away  from  the  flood  plains  of  the  rivers 
nothing  can  be  raised  at  present.  The  soil,  however,  is  very  rich,  and 
although  it  now  produces  merely  a  stunted  growth  of  bunchgrass,  by 
irrigation  upwards  of  40  bushels  or  wheat  and  60  of  oats  per  acre  can 
be  raised. 

JEFFERSON  RIVER. 

The  drainage  basin  of  the  Jefferson  lies  west  of  that  of  the  Madison 
and  includes  the  area  surrounded  on  the  south  and  west  by  the  great 
bend  or  loop  in  the  continental  divide  or  watershed.  The  drainage 
area  of  this  stream  is  over  four  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  Madison, 
but,  in  spite  of  this  fact,  the  mean  annual  discharge  of  the  stream  is 
probably  not  as  great,  owing  to  the  difference  in  character  of  topogra- 
phy and  the  lower  elevation.  The  main  stream  is  formed  by  the  union 
of  Bighole  river,  coming  in  from  the  west,  and  the  Beaverhead  froin 
the  south.  From  this  point  the  river  flows  in  a  general  northeasterly 
course  for  a  distance  of  60  miles  to  its  junction  with  the  Madison  and 
Gallatin,  forming  the  Missouri  river. 

Reclrock  creek,  the  head  waters  of  Beaverhead  river,  rises  in  the 
mountains  south  of  Madison  valley  and  flows  west,  parallel  to  the  con- 
tinental divide,  through  a  broad  open  valley,  in  which  are  numerous 
small  lakes  and  marshes,  furnishing  excellent  pasturage.  This  is 
known  as  Centennial  valley.  It  is  about  40  miles  long  and  from  2  to  3 
miles  in  width,  and  lies  at  an  elevation  of  about  6,000  feet.  Bedrock 
creek,  after  flowing  beyond  the  line  between  Madison  and  Beaverhead 
counties,  turns  toward  the  north  and  flows  through  an  open  though 
broken  country,  suitable  principally  for  grazing.  The  bed  of  the  stream 
frequently  becomes  nearly  dry  at  various  points  in  Beaverhead  county 
during  the  latter  part  of  summer,  and  it  will  be  necessary  to  store  some 
of  the  water  in  order  to  increase  the  acreage  of  irrigated  crops. 

A  gauging  station  was  established  on  April  9,  1890,  at  Bedrock,  a 
short  distance  above  the  mouth  of  Horse  Prairie  creek,  and  measure- 
ments were  continued  until  October.  The  average  discharge  for  the 
year  is  estimated  to  have  been  148  second-feet.  The  daily  discharge 
of  Bedrock  creek  for  the  time  during  which  observations  were  made  is 
shown  in  the  twelfth  annual  report,  part  2,  PI.  LX,  in  connection  with 
the  diagram  for  the  West  Gallatin  river.  The  drainage  area  is  1,330 
13  GEOL.,  PT.  in 4 


50  WATER    SUPPLY    FOR   IRRIGATION. 

square  miles,  and  this  amount  of  water  would  cover  this  area  to  a  depth 
of  1£  inches.  The  mean  annual  run-oif  from  this  catchment  area  was  a 
little  over  0.1  of  a  second-foot  per  square  mile.  A  measurement  was 
made  of  Bedrock  creek  at  Alderdice,  about  20  miles  above  Bedrock,  the 
discharge  on  September  6,  1890,  being  10  second-feet. 

Below  Bedrock  station  several  important  tributaries  enter  the  stream, 
the  principal  of  those  from  the  west  being  Horse  Prairie,  Grasshopper, 
and  Rattlesnake  creeks,  and  from  the  east  Blacktail  Deer  creek.  The. 
latter  stream  was  measured  on  September  4,  1889,  at  Poindexter,  the 
discharge  being  only  10  second-feet  from  a  drainage  area  of  300  square 
miles.  This  amount  may  be  considered  as  the  waste  or  seepage  water 
from  the  ditches  above. 

The  Beaverhead  river,  formed  by  the  union  of  the  creeks  named 
above,  flows  toward  the  northeast  through  an  open  country  having  an 
elevation  of  from  4,800  to  5,400  feet,  the  valley  lands  extending  on  each 
side  up  tributary  streams.  The  water  supply,  especially  in  summer, 
is  very  scanty  on  account  of  the  fact  that  the  head  waters  of  these 
streams  are  among  comparatively  low,  broad  mountains,  from  which  the 
rain  and  snow  water  is  not  discharged  with  rapidity.  In  the  higher 
valleys  the  various  forage  plants,  with  the  exception  of  alfalfa,  are 
raised,  and  also  wheat,  oats,  and  barley,  the  climate  being  in  general 
too  cold  for  corn  and  many  of  the  common  fruits. 

In  consequence  of  the  scanty  supply  of  water  and  the  lack  of  efficient 
regulations  governing  the  distribution  of  it,  controversies  are  con- 
stantly arising  concerning  the  use  of  the  water,  and  these  lead  to 
almost  endless  litigation.  It  is  impossible  for  the  agricultural  resources 
to  be  developed  until  the  water  supply  is  increased  by  storage  and 
until  a  thorough  system  of  water  control  is  inaugurated,  so  that  the 
irrigator  may  be  reasonably  sure  of  receiving  a  fair  proportion  of  water 
each  year.  * 

In  many  of  the  upper  valleys,  as,  for  example,  on  Grasshopper  creek, 
the  settlers  for  nearly  thirty  years  have  raised  nothing  but  hay  along, 
creek  bottoms.  They  have  not  produced  even  the  common  garden  veg- 
etables, but  many  of  them  are  convinced  that  if  the  lands  were  thor- 
oughly cultivated  and  the  water  not  allowed  to  run  to  waste,  but  stored 
and  held  for  use  during  the  summer,  the  production  per  acre  could  be 
increased  threefold,  and  the  water  could  be  made  to  cover  many  times 
as  much  land  as  it  does  at  present.  It  is  stated  that  under  present 
methods  the  full  limit  of  farming  has  been  reached,  and  that  when  a 
ranch  is  taken  higher  up  on  the  river  and  irrigated  some  person  further 
down  the  stream  must  stop  farming  for  lack  of  water.  One  farmer 
states  that  when  he  bought  his  land  he  had  an  abundant  supply,  but  as 
other  persons  brought  under  cultivation  land  higher  and  higher  up  on 
the  river  and  its  tributaries,  he,  with  others,  began  to  lose  the  usual 
supply,  and  as  a  result  all  parties  are  engaged  in  lawsuits. 

Near  Dillon  a  deep  well  has  been  drilled  to  a  depth  of  450  feet,  at  a 


NEWELL.]  TRIBUTARIES    OF    JEFFERSON    RIVER.  51 

cost  of  about  $5,000,  in  the  hopes  of  obtaining  artesian  water.  There 
is  especial  need  here  for  water  for  the  farms  already  under  cultivation, 
not  to  mention  the  thousands  of  acres  that  might  be  cultivated  if  water 
could  be  had.  The  farmers,  as  a  rule,  see  the  imperfection  of  the  pres- 
ent methods  of  irrigation,  but  are  unable  to  unite  upon  any  practicable 
plan  to  remedy  matters.  The  first  settlers  claim  most,  if  not  all,  of  the 
water  during  dry  seasons,  and  the  later  comers  do  not  see  why  they 
are  not  entitled  to  as  much  water  as  the  others. 

The  Bighole,  or,  as  it  was  formerly  known,  Wisdom  river,  rises  in  the 
mountain  ranges  northwest  of  the  headwaters  of  Beaverhead  river. 
It  flows  northerly  through  broad,  open  valleys,  then  turns  to  the  east 
and  southeast,  describing  roughly  a  half  circle  in  a  general  way  parallel 
to  that  formed  by  the  continental  divide.  It  is  probable  that  this  river 
carries  a  larger  amount  of  water  than  does  the  Beaverhead,  but,  unfor- 
tunately, few  measurements  have  been  made.  On  September  8,  1889, 
the  Bighole,  as  measured  at  Melrose,  was  discharging  only  60  second- 
feet  from  a  drainage  area  of  2,335  square  miles.  At  about  the  same 
time,  viz,  September  9,  the  Beaverhead,  at  Dillon,  where  the  drainage 
area  is  approximately  4,000  square  miles,  was  discharging  75  second- 
feet. 

When  the  upper  valleys  along  this  stream  were  first  settled  it  was 
found  that  good  hay  grew  in  abundance  along  the  river  and  on  the 
small  creek  bottoms  that  were  overflowed  in  spring  and  early  summer. 
These  lands  were  rapidly  taken  up,  and  for  many  years  the  inhabitants 
were  successful  in  raising  sufficient  hay  for  their  cattle  without  irriga- 
tion. In  1889,  however,  there  was  almost  complete  failure  of  crops  on 
such  laud,  but  those  persons  who  had  taken  water  out  upon  the  bench 
or  high  lands  had  a  fairly  good  crop. 

A  short  distance  above  the  junction  of  the  Beaverhead  and  Bighole 
rivers  Ruby  creek  enters  from  the  southeast,  bringing  water  from  the 
Jefferson  range,  Ruby  range,  and  other  mountains,  the  drainage  basin 
of  this  river  being  included  within  Madison  county.  This  stream  is 
reported  to  flow  continuously  throughout  the  year,  and  the  ditches 
depending  upon  it  usually  receive  an  amount  of  water  sufficient  for 
ordinary  needs.  In  the  case  of  many  of  the  tributaries,  however,  the 
supply  is  less  abundant,  some  of  them  becoming  dry  during  summer. 
A  measurement  of  Ruby  creek  was  made  at  Laurin  on  September 
4,  1889,  and  the  discharge  was  found  to  be  90  second-feet  from  a  drain- 
age area  of  approximately  710  square  miles. 

There  is  complaint  that  the  ditches  are  too  small  and  that  the  loss  by 
evaporation  and  seepage  is  enormous ;  also,  that  the  construction  has 
been  so  poor  that  the  annual  expense  of  maintenance  is  a  serious  mat- 
ter to  the  irrigator.  There  is  a  great  need  not  only  here,  but  elsewhere 
in  the  basin,  of  storage  reservoirs  near  the  head  of  the  river,  and  of 
more  thorough  systems  of  employing  the  water  already  available.  It  is 
stated  that  there  is  great  wastage  from  lack  of  definite  rules  regarding 


52  WATER  SUPPLY  FOR  IRRIGATION. 

the  use  of  the  water,  some  persons  allowing  it  to  run  where  it  does  jio 
good,  or  neglecting  to  employ  it  properly  in  spring  and  fall.  The 
ground  also  is  not  always  properly  prepared,  and  the  losses  through 
ignorance  and  carelessness  are  often  greater  than  those  through  scarcity 
of  supply. 

Along  the  lower  part  of  the  Beaverhead  many  farms  depend  upon 
seepage  and  overflow,  the  only  crop  raised  being  hay.  The  cultivated 
lands  lie  higher  and  must  be  irrigated  by  means  of  ditches  before  any- 
thing can  be  produced,  the  only  exception  being  in  the  case  of  certain 
soils  which,  in  an  unusually  rainy  season,  retain  sufficient  moisture  to 
support  an  inferior  growth.  In  1890,  as  well  as  in  1889,  the  Beaver- 
head  was  dry  in  certain  places  and  it  is  probable  that  this  condition  of 
things  will  occur  again  and  again,  since  more  land  is  being  brought 
under  cultivation  on  the  tributaries  each  year.  The  only  apparent 
relief  is  from  storage  reservoirs.  In  a  few  instances  alkali  is  reported 
to  have  developed  on  some  of  the  lower  lands  to  an  extent  sufficient  to 
kill  grass  and  other  plants,  resulting  in  partial  or  complete  abandon- 
ment of  these  spots. 

Below  the  junction  of  the  Beaverhead  and  Bighole  rivers  the  Jeffer- 
son receives  a  number  of  tributaries,  the  principal  of  these  from  the 
north  being  Pipestone,  Whitetail  Deer,  and  North  Boulder  creeks,  these 
being  in  Jefferson  county,  and  from  the  south  Coal,  Bell,  South  Boul- 
der, and  Willow  creeks,  these  coining  from  the  Jefferson  range. 

On  North  Boulder  creek,  as  on  many  of  the  other  streams,  there  is 
great  scarcity  of  water,  and  as  the  settlers  bring  more  and  more  land 
under  cultivation  the  demand  steadily  increases.  In  this  part  of  the 
state  examples  are  furnished  of  the  changes  in  industry,  the  first  set- 
tlers being  attracted  by  mining,  and  then  to  some  extent  taking  up 
stock-raising.  After  awhile  the  stock  ranges  become  overstocked,  and 
during  the  dry  seasons  the  grass  has  been  almost  destroyed.  As  a  con- 
sequence the  settlers  have  turned  their  attention  more  and  more  to 
agriculture,  and  the  strife  for  water  has  become  severe.  It  is  asserted 
that  there  is  not  sufficient  water  along  North  Boulder  creek  for  one 
acre  out  of  ten  of  the  tillable  lands  unless  some  is  saved  by  storage. 
In  the  dry  seasons  of  1889  and  1890  this  creek  and  the  Little  Boulder 
were  very  low,  and  even  dry  in  places,  and  the  floods,  which  generally 
wet  the  bottom  lands  in  April  and  May,  were  too  small  to  be  of  much 
benefit. 

The  drainage  basin  of  Jefferson  river  includes  all  of  Beaverhead 
county,  the  southern  part  of  Silverbow  county,  the  western  part  of 
Madison  and  the  south  end  of  Jefferson  county.  According  to  the  cen- 
sus there  were  in  Beaverhead  county  294  irrigators  and  a  total  crop 
area  of  42,606  acres  irrigated,  the  average  size  of  farm  being  145  acres. 
In  Silverbow  county  there  were  75  irrigators  and  5,968  acres  irrigated, 
most  of  this  undoubtedly  being  along  the  Bighole  river  or  its  tribu- 


NEWELL.]  WATER    SUPPLY    OF    MISSOURI    VALLEY.  53 

taries.    In  Jefferson  and  Madison  counties  the  acreage  irrigated,  as 
previously  stated,  lies  partly  in  other  basins. 

MISSOURI  VALLEY. 

This  name  is  commonly  applied  to  the  long,  narrow  valley  lying  for 
the  most  part  on  the  east  side  of  the  Missouri  river  southeast  of  Helena. 
The  river  below  Three  Forks  continues  northerly  for  about  20  miles, 
principally  in  a  gorge  or  canyon.  At  Tostou  the  valley  begins  to 
widen,  the  river  keepiug  its  course  near  the  hills  on  the  western  side, 
leaving  broad  bench  and  low  lauds  on  the  east.  The  valley  terminates 
near  Canyon  Ferry,  a  point  18  miles  from  Helena  in  a  direction  a  little 
north  of  east.  A  large  number  of  streams  rising  in  the  Belt  mountains 
enter  this  valley  from  the  east,  furnishing  a  well  distributed  though 
small  water  supply. 

Irrigation  in  the  Missouri  valley  is  carried  on  mainly  by  means  of 
water  from  the  tributaries,  the  water  of  the  main  river  being  used  to  a 
very  small  extent,  if  at  all.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  ditches  can  be 
diverted  from  the  side  streams  with  far  greater  ease  than  from  the 
river  on  account  of  their  decided  fall  and  the  elevation  of  their  beds 
relative  to  the  lands  to  be  irrigated.  The  water  in  these  streams  de- 
creases rapidly  in  July  and  many  of  them  become  dry  later  in  the  sea- 
son. In  1889  it  is  reported  that  not  to  exceed  one-fourth  of  a  crop  was 
raised  in  the  valley,  and  in  many  instances  there  was  an  entire  failure 
owing  to  scarcity  of  water.  In  the  following  year  the  condition  of  af- 
fairs was  a  little  better,  but  some  farmers  failed  to  obtain  fair  returns. 

The  quantity  of  water  in  the  streams  varies  greatly  with  the  charac- 
ter of  the  weather  during  the  winter  season.  If  the  fall  is  dry  and 
there  is  a  large  amount  of  snow  during  winter  a  large  part  of  this  sat- 
urates the  ground,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  ground  is  frozen  before 
snow  comes  it  often  melts  and  runs  away  without  being  of  benefit.  The 
farmers  have  become  accustomed  to  estimating  the  probable  amount  of 
water  available  during  the  succeeding  season  and  as  far  as  possible 
regulate  their  crops  in  accordance  with  the  probabilities. 

The  great  need  of  this  valley  is  of  a  large  canal  taking  water  from  the 
Missouri  river  and  bringing  it  out  at  an  elevation  sufficient  to  cover 
the  thousands  of  acres  of  excellent  land.  Whether  this  is  practicable 
can  be  determined  only  by  thorough  examination  of  the  route  of  such  a 
canal.1  If  this  could  be  done  then  the  waterof  the  side  streams  could  be 
used  upon  bench  lands  above  the  reach  of  the  canal.  As  regards  water 
supply  there  can  be  no  question,  for  the  amount  in  the  river,  as  shown 
by  measurements,  is  ample  for  all  demands  of  this  kind. 

The  amount  of  water  in  the  Missouri  river  at  the  head  of  the  valley 
is  practically  the  same  as  that  at  the  junction  of  the  Gallatiu,  Madison, 
and  Jefferson,  since  only  a  few  small  streams  enter  between  these  two 
places.  The  measurements  of  flowing  water  made  in  this  part  of  the 

1  Eleventh  Ann.  Eept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pt.  2,  Irrigation,  p.  114. 


54  WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 

river  have  been  previously  mentioned  on  p.  39.  The  details  of  those 
made  at  Toston  from  April  8  to  July  26,  1890,  are  given  on  page  42  of 
the  second  annual  report.1  According  to  these  measurements  the  dis- 
charge at  that  time  varied  from  3,697  second-feet  to  14,440.  The  meas- 
urements made  by  T.  P.  Roberts  in  1872  are  mentioned  on  p.  236  of 
the  third  annual  report,2  the  result  obtained  by  him  in  the  latter  part 
of  July  being  8,538  second-feet.  On  July  28,  1890,  the  discharge,  as 
measured  by  the  Missouri  Eiver  Commission,  was  2,863  second-feet,  and 
on  August  6,  1890,  2,640  second-feet. 

Besides  the  computations  of  discharge  made  for  localities  above  the 
valley,  others,  as  given  on  p.  39,  were  made  for  stations  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  valley,  where  the  river  again  enters  the  canyons,  viz,  at 
Canyon  Ferry,  Stubbs  Ferry,  and  localities  in  that  vicinity.  A  com- 
parison of  the  results  obtained  at  these  places,  together  with  those 
from  the  gauging  station  at  Craig,  shows  that  at  the  time  of  greatest 
drought  the  river  rarely  falls  below  2,000  second-feet,  so  that  at  all 
times  there  will  be  an  ample  supply  in  the  river  for  use  upon  the  irri- 
gable lands.  As  previously  stated,  a  permanent  station  has  been 
established  at  Townsend  by  the  Missouri  River  Commission,  where 
records  of  the  fluctuations  of  the  height  of  the  stream,  are  being  kept. 

The  quantity  of  water  delivered  by  the  streams  coming  from  the  Big 
Belt  mountains  is  not  known,  but  there  is  unquestionably  an  amount 
sufficiently  large  to  fill  during  the  spring  numerous  reservoirs  among 
the  foothills.  By  saving  the  surplus  water  in  this  way  a  larger  acreage 
could  be  brought  under  cultivation  in  the  Missouri  valley,  and  it  is  pos- 
sible that  the  greater  part  of  the  land  could  in  time  be  irrigated  should 
a  large  canal  from  the  Missouri  river  prove  impracticable.  On  the 
other  hand,  even  with  a  canal  of  this  character  there  would  still  remain 
elevated  tracts  on  the  bench  lands  to  be  supplied  with  water  from 
storage. 

The  eastern  side  of  Missouri  valley  is  in  the  western  end  of  Meagher 
county,  the  river  forming  the  county  line,  while  the  laud  on  the  oppo- 
site bank  of  the  stream  is  in  Jeft'erson  county.  In  this  latter  locality 
most  of  the  farmers  depend  for  irrigation  mainly  upon  water  from  the 
Missouri  river,  taking  it  out  during  flood  time.  When  the  stream  falls 
they  can  no  longer  bring  the  water  out  upon  their  ground  and  in  sum- 
mer the  crops  often  are  very  scanty  on  account  of  the  lack  of  mois- 
ture. The  streams  from  the  Jefferson  range  are  less  in  number  and 
carry  a  smaller  amount  of  water  than  is  the  case  of  those  from  the 
Belt  mountains  in  the  east. 

PRICKLY   PEAR   VALLEY. 

Prickly  Pear  valley  is  northwest  of  Missouri  valley,  lying  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Missouri  river  and  beginning  nearly  opposite  the  lower  end 
of  this  latter  valley.  The  Jefferson  mountains  are  on  the  south  and 

1  IT.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Eleventh  Ann.  Kept.,  pt.  II,  irrigation,  p.  42. 

2  Twelfth  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pt.  2,  Irrigation,  p.  'J36. 


NEWELL.]  IRRIGATION   NEAR    HELENA.  55 

the  continental  divide  with  its  spurs  on  the  west  and  north.  The  city  of 
Helena,  the  capital  of  Montana,  is  on  the  southwestern  edge  of  the 
open  land.  The  elevation  of  the  valley  is  from  3,800  to  4,200  feet,  the 
railroad  at  the  city  of  Helena  being  3,932  feet  above  sea  level.  The 
valley  is  nearly  12  miles  wide  and  20  miles  longj  but,  although  com- 
paratively thickly  settled,  the  water  supply  is  deficient.  Wherever 
water  can  be  obtained,  however,  the  land  is  thoroughly  cultivated. 

In  the  Prickly  Pear  valley  there  are  thousands  of  acres  of  arable 
land  which  by  irrigation  would  produce  heavy  crops.  Unfortunately 
the  Missouri  river  is  at  an  elevation  too  low  to  be  brought  out  upon 
any  of  this  land,  for,  as  previously  stated,  the  elevation  of  low  water 
at  Toston  is  3,879  feet  and  at  Craig,  3,629.  The  only  way  of  increasing 
the  water  supply,  therefore,  is  by  storing  the  spring  floods.  Occasion- 
ally there  have  been  seasons  in  which  there  was  sufficient  rainfall  to 
produce  a  good  crop  anywhere  in  the  valley,  but  from  1888  to  1890  the 
precipitation  has  either  been  too  small,  or  has  come  at  times  when  it 
was  of  little  benefit  to  agriculture,  and  it  is  evident  that  no  dependence 
can  be  placed  upon  the  success  of  farming  without  irrigation. 

The  facilities  for  storing  water  are  reported  to  be  excellent,  as  there 
are  many  localities  where  water,  in  small  quantities  at  least,  could  be 
held  for  use  during  the  dry  season.  The  matter  has  been  frequently  dis- 
cussed by  the  irrigators,  but  comparatively  little  work  has  been  done 
toward  making  these  resources  available.  Attempts  have  been  made 
to  obtain  water  by  deep  wells,  one  being  drilled  at  Helena  to  a  depth 
of  1,000  feet.  Water  was  found  at  1GO  feet,  but  it  did  not  rise  to  the 
surface.  Another  well  has  been  drilled  to  a  depth  of  521  feet,  and  this 
and  other  shallower  wells  are  pumped  by  windmills,  each  furnishing 
water  for  about  an  acre  of  ground. 

In  some  portions  of  the  valley  are  a  few  swamps  and  hay  lands  kept 
moist  by  springs  or  seepage,  but  in  other  parts  there  has  been  a  suc- 
cession of  losses  of  crops  owing  to  deficiency  of  water.  In  the  southern 
part  of  the  valjey  the  irrigators  depend  upon  water  from  Prickley  Pear 
creek,  which  flows  north  from  the  Jefferson  range.  A  few  own  private 
ditches,  while  others  have  joined  in  forming  companies  in  order  to 
build  canals  and  ditches.  There  has  been  more  or  less  contention  over 
the  division  of  water.  In  a  few  instances  it  is  stated  that  prior  locators 
whose  rights  have  been  confirmed  by  decisions  of  court  find  it  more 
profitable  to  sell  the  water  to  more  unfortunate  irrigators  than  to 
attempt  to  use  it  themselves. 

DEARBORN   AND   SUN  RIVERS. 

The  Dearborn  and  Sun  rivers  rise  in  the  main  range  of  the  Rocky 
mountains  and  flow  easterly  to  the  Missouri,  the  Dearborn  entering  at 
a  point  about  50  miles  north  of  Helena  and  the  Sun  river  at  an  equal 
distance  further  down  the  river.  A  large  number  of  creeks  flow  into 
the  stream  between  these  points,  but  they  are  of  comparatively  little 


56  WATER    SUPPLY   FOR    IRRIGATION. 

importance  in  irrigation.  On  the  Dearborn  river  are  several  large  irri- 
gating canals,  the  one  on  the  north  fork  being  perhaps  the  most  exten- 
sive in  the  state.  There  is  no  continuous  record  of  the  amount  of  water 
in  this  stream,  the  only  measurements  known  being  those  made  at 
Dearborn  on  August  9,  1889,  the  discharge  being  47  second-feet,  and 
on  April  15,  1890,  37  second-feet.  The  drainage  area  at  this  point  is 
about  350  square  miles. 

In  this  vicinity  are  large  areas  of  table  or  bench  land  along  the  Mis- 
souri river  and  extending  back  to  the  mountains.  The  soil  on  these 
lauds  would  be  very  productive  if  an  ample  supply  of  water  could  be 
secured.  The  Missouri  river,  however,  is,  as  in  the  case  of  Prickly 
Pear  valley,  at  too  low  an  elevation  to  furnish  the  needed  supply.  In 
times  of  drought  the  small  streams  become  dry  often  at  points  above  the 
heads  of  the  farmers'  ditches.  Even  the  comparatively  large  streams, 
as  the  Dearborn  and  Sun,  contract  to  such  an  extent  that  it  becomes 
a  matter  of  conjecture  as  to  where  the  water  for  the  large  canals  is  to 
come  from. 

Along  the  beds  of  the  small  dry  creeks  a  number  of  storage  reser- 
voirs have  been  built  by  ranchmen,  who  find  that  in  this  way  they  can 
save  enough  water  to  bring  under  irrigation  patches  of  forage  crop  of 
considerable  size.  This  method  of  saving  water  is  being  gradually  ex- 
tended, although  the  capital  invested  in  such  works  is  small  on  account 
of  the  limited  means  of  the  owners.  Water  is  always  plentiful  in  the 
spring,  and  if  advantage  is  taken  of  this  fact  at  the  proper  time  these 
small  ponds  can  be  filled. 

The  Sun  river  has  been  described  with  considerable  detail  in  the 
second  annual  report, ]  where  is  given  a  map  of  the  basin,  showing  the 
reservoirs  and  canal  lines  surveyed  by  H.  M.  Wilson.  The  details  of 
the  work  are  given  on  page  121  of  this  volume.  The  discharge  of  the 
Sun  river  is  shown  graphically  on  Plate  LXIII  of  the  third  annual  re- 
port,2 and  the  maximum,  minimum,  and  mean  discharges  by  months 
are  given  in  the  table  on  page  347  of  the  same  volume.  .  By  reference 
to  this  table  it  will  be  seen  that  the  discharge  for  1890  ranged  from  160 
second-feet  up  to  4,085  second- feet.  The  average  for  the  year  was  715 
second-feet,  this  amount  of  water  coming  from  a  drainage  area  of  about 
1,175  square  miles.  The  possible  utilization  of  this  water  out  upon 
the  great  plains  on  both  sides  of  the  Sun  river,  both  in  Lewis  and 
Clarke  and  Choteau  counties,  and  in  Cascade  county,  above  Great 
Falls,  has  been  discussed  by  Mr.  Wilson  in  other  reports. 

The  irrigators  depending  for  water  upon  the  smaller  streams  in  this 
part  of  the  country  state  that  the  water  supply  is  barely  sufficient  for 
present  demands,  and  that  there  are  large  tracts  of  land  on  every  side 
now  valueless  for  lack  of  water.  Much  of  this  can  be  irrigated  only  by 
storing  the  spring  floods,  but,  unfortunately,  the  farmers  do  not  have 


1  Eleventh  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pt.  n,  Irrigation,  pages  120  to  133. 

2  Twelfth  Ann.  Kept.  IT.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pt.  n,  Irrigation,  p.  234. 


NEWELL.]  DISCHARGE    OF    MISSOURI    RIVER.  57 

sufficient  capital  to  build  the  small  reservoirs.  The  demand  for  water 
is  increasing  with  great  rapidity  since  the  ranges  upon  which  the  cat- 
tle have  been  accustomed  to  feed  are  being  fenced  and  the  stockmen 
are  compelled  to  raise  more  and  more  feed  for  their  cattle. 

The  drainage  basin  of  the  Dearborn  river,  the  south  part  of  that  of 
the  Sun  river,  and  the  Prickly  Fear  valley  are  principally  in  Lewis 
and  Clarke  county,  in  which  area,  according  to  the  last  census,  there 
were  231  irrigators,  and  a  total  of  15,441  Acres  irrigated  from  which  crops 
were  obtained.  The  average  size  of  the  area  irrigated  by  each  person 
was  thus  07  acres,  an  amount  considerably  less  than  the  average  for 
the  state,  but  still  large  when  compared  with  the  carefully  cultivated 
areas  of  Utah  and  of  adjoining  states. 

CHESTNUT   VALLEY    AND    SMITH    RIVER. 

Chestnut  valley  is  the  term  applied  to  the  open  land  along  the  Mis- 
souri river  above  Great  Falls  and  north  of  the  Big  Belt  mountains. 
Smith  river,  which  drains  the  country  between  the  Big  and  Little  Belt 
mountains,  enters  the  Missouri  river  near  the  lower  end  of  this  valley. 
A  large  proportion  of  the  lower  land  of  this  area  can  be  irrigated  by 
means  of  a  canal  from  the  Missouri.  One  canal  has  already  been  built, 
but  owing  to  improper  plan  or  construction  a  sufficient  supply  of  water 
could  not  be  turned  into  it  during  the  drought  of  1880  and  succeeding 
years. 

The  quantity  of  water  in  the  river  available  for  irrigation  is  very 
large,  as  shown  by  measurements  made  at  various  points  referred  to 
on  the  preceding  pages.  The  daily  discharge  at  Craig,  a  point  north 
of  Helena  and  above  the  mouth  of  the  Dearborn  river,  is  shown  in  Fig. 
o.">.  The  discharge  in  1891,  as  indicated  by  the  light  line,  was  con- 
siderably less  than  in  1892.  This  figure  should  be  compared  with  PI. 
LXII  of  the  Twelfth  Annual  Report,1  which  also  gives  diagramrnatically 
the  discharge  during  the  early  part  of  1891,  together  with  the  quanti- 
ties for  1890  and  tor  the  latter  part  of  1889.  The  increased  discharge 
of  1892  over  that  for  1890  and  1891  is  especially  noticeable. 

There  is  a  large  amount  of  bottom  land  along  the  Missouri  river  usu- 
ally overflowed  each  year  in  the  month  of  June  and  producing  heavy 
crops  of  wild  hay.  Occasionally,  however,  in  years  of  drought  there 
is  no  overflow  and  little  hay  can  be  cut.  The  construction  of  canals 
built  in  such  manner  as  to  insure  a  permanent  supply  of  water  for  the 
valley  must  necessarily  involve  large  expenditures,  but  the  certainty 
of  securing  water  offers  inducements  toward  investment  of  this  char- 
acter. In  this  part  of  the  state  there  have  been  a  number  of  large 
canals  built  at  heavy  expense,  but  which  have  been  to  a  greater  or  less 
degree  failures  on  account  of  errors  of  judgment  as  to  the  quantity  of 
water  available  or  through  poor  engineering  in  locating  the  line  of 
canal. 

1  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Twelfth  Ann.  Eept.,  pt.  n,  Irrigation,  p.  232. 


58 


WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 


It  is  stated  that  the  charge  for  water  front  the  large  canal  in  Chest- 
nut valley  is  $2  per  miner's  inch  a  season,  and  that  cue-half  an  inch  to 
the  acre  is  sufficient,  but  in  dry  seasons  the  farmers  claim  that  they 
can  not  succeed  in  raising  good  crops  with  this  amount  of  water.  Oc- 
casionally fair  crops  can  be  raised  without  irrigation,  but  with  a  thor- 
ough system  every  acre  of  this  beautiful  valley  could  be  made  to  pro- 
duce large  crops  every  year. 

The  headwaters  of  Smith  river  are  in  Meagher  county,  while  the 
lower  part,  near  Chestnut  valley,  is  in  Cascade  county.  As  in  the  case 
of  nearly  all  streams  which  flow  from  one  county  to  another,  there  is 


FIG.  55. — Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  Missouri  river  at  Craig,  Montana,  for  1891  and  1892. 

more  or  less  friction  among  the  irrigators  of  each  locality  regarding 
the  distribution  of  the  water  during  the  summer.  In  the  upper  val- 
leys, where  the  agricultural  areas  are  small,  the  water  supply  is  com- 
paratively abundant  and  is  used  freely  and  even  wastefully  on  hay 
lands.  Further  do  wn  the  amount  of  water  available  steadily  diminishes 
until  the  point  is  finally  reached  where  there  is  not  sufficient  for  the 
land  usually  cultivated. 

On  the  headwaters  of  the  south  fork  of  Smith  river  from  15  to  20 
miles  southerly  from  White  Sulphur  springs  a  number  of  reservoirs 
have  been  examined  by  the  Geological  Survey  and  reported  for  segre- 
gation as  described  on  pages  137  et  seq.,  of  the  third  annual  report. 
At  White  Sulphur  springs  the  valley  has  an  elevation  of  about  5,000 
feet,  and  the  Smith  river  is  usually  considered  as  a  small  sized  creek. 
All  of  the  ditches  in  this  vicinity  are  owned  by  individuals  who  take 
as  much  water  from  the  streams  as  they  need.  Occasionally,  however^ 


NEWELL.]  RIVERS    OF    EASTERN   MONTANA.  59 

when  there  is  an  unusual  drought  there  is  even  at  this  point  considera- 
ble litigation  concerning  the  distribution  of  this  water.  Probably 
more  land  could  be  brought  under  cultivation  if  storage  reservoirs 
were  constructed  in  the  localities  favorable  for  such  work. 

In  the  eastern  end  of  Cascade  county  near  the  lower  part  of  Smith 
river  valley  the  country  is  in  general  broken,  and  the  only  part  suit- 
able for  cultivation  is  that  along  small,  narrow  bottoms  in  the  coulees 
which  lead  down  from  the  mountains  to  some  water  course.  In  some 
of  these  coulees,  or  draws  as  they  are  locally  called,  there  are  small 
streams  of  water  from  springs  which  flow  even  during  the  dry  season. 
This  water  is  used  by  each  settler  in  irrigating  a  few  acres  of  grain  or 
a  garden,  but  there  are  few  ditches  of  notable  size.  There  has  been 
little,  if  any,  effort  made  to  provide  water  storage. 

East  of  Smith  river  are  a  number  of  streams  deriving  their  water 
from  the  northern  end  of  the  Little  Belt  mountains  or  from  the  High- 
wood  mountains  which  occupy  an  almost  isolated  position  to  the  north 
of  these.  A  few  ditches  have  been  taken  out  of  Little  Belt  creek.  Otter 
creek  and  Big  Belt  creek,  but  these  were  of  comparatively  little  use 
during  times  of  severe  drought.  In  fact,  as  stated  by  one  of  the  irri- 
gators,  when  there  is  sufficient  water  to  fill  the  ditches  no  irrigation  is 
needed  and  they  are  practically  useless.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the 
drought  is  unusually  severe  the  only  possible  means  of  irrigation  would 
be  by  water  held  in  reservoirs  near  $he  Highwood  mountains. 

TETON  AND  MARIAS   RIVERS. 

The  Tetoii  and  Marias  rivers  rise  in  the  Eocky  mountains  in  the 
northwestern  corner  of  the  Missouri  basin  and  flow  in  an  easterly  direc- 
tion through  a  region  of  elevated  plains  and  prairies,  finally  joining  the 
Missouri  river.  The  general  altitude  of  this  country  is  from  3,000  to 
4.000  feet,  towards  the  mountains  the  plains  rising  by  gentle  terraces 
to  elevations  of  about  5,000  feet.  This,  as  shown  on  PI.  cvni,  is  abroad 
grazing  country,  cattle  finding  an  ample  supply  of  grass,  especially 
during  years  of  ordinary  rainfall.  There  are  very  few  cultivated  farms, 
and  these  are  found  along  the  streams  where  water  can  be  obtained. 

On  these  plains  crops  can  occasionally  be  raised  without  irrigation, 
but  there  is  by  no  means  certainty  of  success  in  any  year.  There  are 
fcjv  settlements  in  this  part  of  Montana,  the  towns  being  mainly  along 
the  Missouri  river.  Irrigation  is  practiced  principally  near  the  head- 
waters of  the  Teton  river,  and  also  on  the  Marias  to  a  small  extent. 
At  various  times  large  irrigating  systems  have  been  proposed  to  take 
water  from  these  streams  out  upon  the  almost  limitless  plains  lying  in 
all  directions.  On  the  Blackfeet  agency  a  small  ditch  has  been  built 
and  the  ground  under  it  cultivated.  The  Indians  attempted  to  raise 
crops  without  irrigation,  but  during  1889  and  1890  these  were  a  failure. 

Along  Dupuyer  creek,  the  most  southerly  of  the  upper  tributaries  of 


60  WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 

the  Marias,  ditches  have  been  taken  out  by  ranchmen  either  for  the 
purpose  of  making  hay  from  the  wild  prairie  grass  or  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  crops.  The  fall  of  the  land  affords  means  for  the  easy  and  rapid 
construction  of  ditches  and  the  water  of  the  creek  is  all  taken  or  claimed, 
except  the  flood  waters  of  spring.  The  surroundings  are  reported  to 
be  very  favorable  for  the  construction  of  reservoirs,  but  the  cost  is 
beyond  the  means  of  individuals.  The  losses  lor  want  of  water  in  1889 
in  the  valley  of  the  Dupuyer  alone  are  stated  to  have  been  nearly 
$40,000.  The  land  is  very  fertile  and  produces  remarkable  quantities 
of  wheat,  oats,  barley  and  potatoes. 

All  along  the  foot  of  the  Eocky  mountains  in  this  part  of  the  basin 
of  the  Missouri  river  are  small  streams  which  can  be  utilized  for  irriga- 
tion, covering  the  level  land  in  their  immediate  vicinity.  Further  out 
on  the  plains,  however,  where  the  soil  is  of  great  fertility,  the  water 
supply  is  very  scanty  and  can  only  be  increased  by  the  most  careful 
system  of  storage.  It  is  not  probable  that  more  than  a  small  percent- 
age of  this  vast  area  can  ever  be  cultivated  by  means  of  irrigation,  and 
it  must  remain  useful  only  as  pasturage.  There  are  many  natural 
basins  into  which  water  from  melting  snow  could  be  conducted  and  held 
for  use  upon  lower  grounds  in  July  and  August.  At  present  most  of 
this  land  belongs  to  the  government  and  affords  free  pasturage,  so  that 
there  is  little  necessity  of  raising  forage  plants. 

The  valley  of  the  Teton  is  in  places  3  miles  wide  and  is  at  least  70 
miles  long.  8tock»raising  is  the  principal  industry,  for,  since  the  only 
railroad  is  along  the  Missouri  river,  there  are  no  facilities  for  trans- 
porting products.  It  has  not  been  found  profitable  to  raise  grain,  but 
the  land  is  rich  and  with  irrigation  will  produce  large  crops.  On 
August  7, 1889,  the  Teton  at  Choteau  was  discharging  26  second-feet. 

JUDITH  AND   MUSSELSHELL   RIVERS. 

The  Judith  and  Musselshell  rivers  receive  the  greater  part  of  the 
drainage  of  the  Missouri  basin  east  of  the  Little  Belt  mountains  and 
south  of  the  main  river.  The  headwaters  of  the  Musselshell  are  south 
of  those  of  the  Judith,  this  stream  flowing  in  an  easterly  direction  for 
over  100  miles  out  upon  the  Great  Plain  region  before  turning  north  to 
join  the  Missouri.  Both  of  these  streams  receive  water  from  broad 
basins  partially  encircled  by  mountains  rising  to  heights  of  from  6,000 
to  9,000  feet.  The  general  elevation  of  these  upper  valleys  is  a  little 
over  4,000  feet.  They  are  comparatively  well  watered,  many  streams 
issuing  from  the  mountains  at  short  intervals.  As  a  consequence  there 
are  a  great  many  small  ditches  owned  by  individuals  and  few,  if  any, 
systems  of  irrigation  owned  by  corporations. 

In  the  Judith  basin  there  is  occasionally  a  year  during  which  a  pay- 
ing crop  can  be  raised  without  irrigation  by  the  careful  cultivation  of 
certain  lands,  but  there  is  seldom  a  time  in  which  the  crops  would  not 
be  better  by  the  employment  of  water.  It  is  stated  that  1887  was  the 


STREAMS   FROM    BELT    MOUNTAINS.  61 

wettest  year  known,  and  that  in  1888  there  was  ample  rain  until  the 
1st  of  July.  In  both  of  these  years,  good  crops  were  raised  in  the 
valley  without  the  use  of  water,  but  in  1889  and  1890,  the  snows  in  the 
mountains  were  very  light  and  the  rainfall  so  deficient  that  as  a  conse- 
quence most  of  the  crops  failed  even  where  settlers  were  prepared  to 
irrigate,  the  streams  not  furnishing  sufficient  water.  A  number  of 
storage  sites  have  beeen  selected  by  this  survey,  and  by  the  construc- 
tion of  reservoirs  in  these  or  other  favorable  localities  the  cultivated  area 
could  be  greatly  extended. 

Judith  valley  was  settled  within  a  comparatively  few  years,  the  first 
ditch  being  taken  out  of  the  Judith  river  in  1880.  As  is  usually  the 
case,  the  majority  of  farmers  were  poor  and  made  their  ditches  at  as 
little  expense  as  possible.  As  a  consequence  many  of  these  are  ineffi- 
cient and  there  is  considerable  waste  of  water.  The  claim  is  made  by 
the  farmers  that  better  ditches  are  needed,  as  well  as  laws  to  regulate 
the  use  of  water,  especially  during  the  time  of  drought,  which  begins 
in  the  latter  part  of  July.  The  greater  part  of  the  drainage  basin  of 
the  Judith  and  Musselshell  rivers  is  included  within  Fergus  county, 
where,  according  to  the  last  census,  there  were  251  irrigators,  having  a 
total  of  30,401  acres  of  crops  under  irrigation.  The  average  size  of  crop 
area  per  individual,  viz,  121  acres,  shows  that  most  of  this  must  have 
been  devoted  to  raising  hay. 

The  headwaters  of  Musselshell  river  are  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Little  Belt  mountains,  many  streams  coming  from  the  Elk  mountains 
on  the  west  and  the  Crazy  mountains  on  the  south.  The  principal 
areas  irrigated  are  in  the  vicinity  of  Martindale.  In  this  vicinity  each 
farm  or  ranch  as  a  rule  has  a  ditch  of  its  own,  and  the  bottom  lands 
along  the  streams  are  alone  watered,  these  being  but  a  small  fraction 
of  the  arable  land  which  could  be  brought  under  irrigation  if  reservoirs 
were  constructed  on  the  small  tributaries.  On  each  of  the  small  streams 
there  are  usually  several  persons  claiming  the  water  which  is  sufficient 
to  supply  only  one  farm.  The  bench  land,  which  now  furnishes  scanty 
feed  to  cattle,  would  with  irrigation  produce  good  grain  or  pasturage 
for  large  herds.  At  the  head  of  many  of  these  creeks  or  along  their 
course  reservoir  sites  have  been  segregated. 

A  few  measurements  of  streams  have  been  made  in  this  vicinity,  and 
it  was  found  that  on  August  17,  1889,  North  Musselshell  at  Martindale 
was  flowing  at  the  rate  of  15  second-feet  and  South  Musselshell  10 
second-feet.  On  the  same  day  Lebo  creek  was  discharging  8  second- 
feet,  American  fork  3  second-feet,  and  Elk  creek  10  second-feet.  This 
portion  of  the  drainage  basin  is  in  Meagher  county.  Farther  down  the 
stream,  in  Fergus  county,  the  demand  for  water  is  even  greater  than 
at  points  higher  on  the  stream,  as  the  valley  is  broader,  and  there  are 
thousands  of  acres  of  arable  land  which  could  be  covered  by  canals. 
The  tributaries  which  enter  the  Musselshell  in  the  lower  portion  of  its 
course  all  come  from  the  Big  Snowy  mountains  and  contribute  water 


62  WATER    SUPPLY  VoR   IRRIGATION. 


oiily  in  times  of  flood.  During  the  summer  all  of  the  amount  available 
is  used  for  irrigation  on  the  ranches  near  the  foothills  of  these  moun- 
tains. 

The  country  on  both  sides  of  the  Missouri  river,  from  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Judith  river  down  to  the  Musselshell  and  even  to  the 
junction  of  the  Yellowstone,  consists  largely  of  bad  lands,  in  which 
there  is  no  water,  except  in  a  few  streams,  which  are  from  50  to  200  feet 
lower  than  the  land.  There  is  some  level  land  on  the  divide,  but  it  is 
useless  on  account  of  the  absence  of  water. 

MILK   RIVER. 

Milk  river  rises  in  the  Rocky  mountains  near  the  northern  border  of 
Montana,  the  greater  part  of  the  headwaters  being  within  the  Dominion 
of  Canada,  in  the  territory  of  Alberta.  It  flows  in  a  general  easterly 
direction,  being  in  the  middle  third  of  its  course  nearly  parallel  to  the 
Missouri,  and  finally  turning  toward  the  south  enters  the  latter  stream 
about  120  miles  above  the  junction  with  the  Yellowstone.  For  nearly 
its  whole  length  it  flows  through  prairies  or  high  plains,  from  which  it 
receives  little  water.  The  greater  part  of  the  drainage  area  in  Montana 
has  been  until  within  a  few  years  included  in  a  vast  Indian  reservation, 
and  therefore  agriculture  has  not  had  an  opportunity  to  develop.  By 
the  throwing  open  of  the  Milk  River  valley  to  settlement,  however, 
rapid  progress  has  been  made  and  the  possibilities  of  the  region  have 
begun  to  attract  attention. 

Previous  to  the  throwing  open  of  the  Indian  reservation  in  Milk 
River  valley  there  had  been  experiments  in  farming  made  by  white 
men  living  in  the  reservation,  and  also  by  the  Indians,  dependence 
for  water  supply  being  placed  upon  melting  snow  and  rainfall.  A  crop 
raised  in  1888  demonstrated  that  all  kinds  of  grain  and  vegetables, 
flax,  hemp,  and  to  a  limited  extent  fruit,  can  be  produced.  Water  can 
be  taken  from  Milk  river  in  many  places  by  ditches,  but  the  stream 
becomes  very  low  after  the  spring  freshets. 

The  whole  of  the  eastern  end  of  the  Missouri  basin  is  a  vast  prairie 
country  with  scanty  vegetation,  and  is  in  general  suitable  only  for  pas- 
turage. There  are  a  few  localities  where  water  can  be  diverted  from 
the  main  stream  or  held  in  reservoirs  and  small  patches  of  low  land 
brought  under  irrigation.  While  these  areas  are  of  themselves  im- 
portant in  this  vast  extent  of  pasture  land,  yet  in  size  they  are  almost 
insignificant.  There  is  occasionally  a  year  during  which  crops  can  be 
raised  without  the  application  of  water,  but  the  uncertainty  is  so  great 
that  it  would  be  ruinous  for  a  farmer  to  attempt  to  make  a  living  in 
this  way.  The  small  creeks  shown  on  the  map  as  draining  the  eastern 
part  of  the  basin  are  usually  dry  for  a  great  part  of  the  year,  although 
at  certain  times  they  carry  a  large  amount  of  water.  !No  measurements 
have  been  made  of  the  amount  of  water  available  in  the  Milk  river  or 
in  any  of  these  streams.  The  Missouri  river  itself  has  been  gauged  at 


NEWELL.]  LOCATION    OF    YELLOWSTONE    BASIN.  63 

various  points  along  this  part  of  its  course  by  officers  of  the  Missouri 
Eiver  Commission  in  the  course  of  their  surveys  for  the  purpose  of 
improving  navigation.  The  results  of  these  measurements  are  noted 
on  page  237  of  the  third  annual  report.1  As  there  stated,  the  esti- 
mated mean  daily  discharge  in  1879  was  13,530  second-feet,  and  in  1880 
was  18,151  second-feet.  As  is  obvious,  this  amount  of  water  is  far  in 
excess  of  any  demands  which  could  ever  be  made  for  the  purposes  of 
irrigation. 

YELLOWSTONE  RIVER  BASIN. 
LOCATION. 

The  drainage  basin  of  the  Yellowstone  river,  as  shown  by  the  small 
index  map,  Fig.  51,  lies  south  and  partly  east  of  the  Missouri  basin,, 
above  described.  Continuing  in  order  around  the  basin,  on  the  east 
are  the  head  waters  or  streams  flowing  into  the  Missouri  in  the  Dako- 
tas  and  Nebraska  j  on  the  south  is  the  basin  of  the  Platte  and  that  of 
the  Colorado,  and  on  the  southwest  the  tributaries  of  Snake  river,  one 
of  the  branches  of  the  Columbia.  The  Yellowstone  basin  is  separated 
from  the  head  waters  of  the  Colorado  and  Columbia  by  the  continental 
divide,  which  in  this  portion  of  its  course  is  made  up  in  places  of  a 
high,  undulating  country,  in  which  the  line  of  water  parting  is  not 
sharply  defined. 

The  Yellowstone  river  rises  in  the  national  park  to  which  the  stream 
has  given  its  name,  flows  north  through  deep  canyons  into  the  state  of 
Montana,  and  then  pursues  a  general  northeasterly  course  to  the  junc- 
tion with  the  Missouri  river  near  Fort  Buford,  a  few  miles  east  of  the 
state  line  between  North  Dakota  and  Montana.  The  principal  tribu- 
tary of  the  Yellowstone,  the  Bighorn,  rises  in  the  Wind  Eiver  moun- 
tains, near  the  center  of  Wyoming,  and,  flowing  northerly,  unites  with 
the  Yellowstone  about  halfway  from  its  source  to  mouth.  Other 
streams,  as,  for  example,  the  Tongue  and  Powder  rivers,  flow  from  Wyo- 
ming in  a  northerly  course,  parallel  to  that  of  the  Bighorn,  entering 
at  points  below  the  mouth  of  the  latter  stream. 

As  will  be  seen  by  inspection  of  the  map,  PI.  cix,  the  Yellowstone 
river  flows  along  the  northern  side  of  its  drainage  basin,  its  water  being 
received  almost  entirely  from  rivers  coming  in  from  the  south  and  head 
ing  in  the  Absaroka  and  Bighorn  ranges.  The  east  and  west  line  form- 
ing the  boundary  between  the  states  of  Wryoining  and  Montana  cuts 
across  the  headwaters  of  all  these  streams,  so  that  as  a  broad  statement 
it  may  be  said  that  three-fourths  of  the  water  in  the  Yellowstone  comes 
from  the  state  of  Wyomiiig,  while  the  largest  extent  of  irrigable  land 
is  probably  in  Montana. 

i  Twelfth  Ann.  Eept.  TJ.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  1890-91,  pt.  II,  Irrigation. 


64  WATER   SUPPLY   FOR   IRRIGATION. 

AREA  AND   TOPOGRAPHY. 

The  total  area  of  this  basin  is  approximately  69,683  square  miles,  of 
which  36,312  square  miles,  or  a  little  over  one-half,  are  in  the  state  of 
Montana.  Measuring  the  elevation  of  the  basin  as  shown  by  the  con- 
tour lines  on  the  map,  it  has  been  found  that  the  areas  at  various  alti- 
tudes are  as  follows : 

Square  miles. 

Area  under  2,000  feet 200 

Area  from  2,000  to  3,000  feet 6, 340 

Area  from  3,000  to  4,000  feet 12, 288 

Area  from  4,000  to  5,000  feet 12, 265 

Area  from  5,000  to  7,000  feet 23, 605 

Area  over  7,000  feet 14, 985 

In  general  outline  the  basin,  as  shown  by  the  map,  is  rudely  trian- 
gular, a  long  point  extending  toward  the  northeast.  All  of  the  high 
ground  is  in  the  opposite  direction,  namely,  near  the  southwestern  side, 
the  basin  as  a  whole  falling  off  rapidly  toward  the  region  of  the  great 
plains  of  the  Dakotas  and  eastern  Montana.  The  high  mountains  in 
the  elevated  portions  of  the  basin,  rising  to  altitudes  of  10,000  feet  and 
over,  furnish  a  large  and  perennial  supply  to  the  streams,  so  that, 
although  the  drainage  area  is  less,  the  amount  discharged  by  the  Yel- 
lowstone at  the  junction  of  the  two  streams  is  probably  nearly  equal  to 
that  flowing  in  the  Missouri. 

One  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  this  basin  is  the  great  extent  and 
elevation  of  these  mountain  masses  occupying  the  southwestern  part 
of  the  area.  These  fall  into  two  groups,  separated  by  the  Bighorn 
river,  the  first  of  these  being  the  Absaroka  range,  together  with  the 
Snowy  mountains  on  the  north  and  the  Wind  river  range  on  the  south, 
and  second,  the  Bighorn  range,  lying  far  to  the  east.  These  great 
mountain  masses  receive  an  amount  of  precipitation  unusually  large 
for  the  arid  region.  The  greater  part  of  this  comes  in  the  form  of 
snow,  which,  melting  during  the  summer,  furnishes  a  large  amount  of 
water  to  the  widely  distributed  streams  flowing  out  in  all  directions. 
Thus  owing  to  the  excellent  water  supply  there  are  unusual  opportuni- 
ties for  the  development  of  irrigation  wherever  arable  land  is  to  be 
found. 

In  the  northeastern  part  of  the  basin  are  plains  deeply  cut  by  the 
larger  rivers  issuing  from  the  mountains  and  also  by  the  streams  which 
at  certain  times  of  the  year  carry  away  the  storm  water  of  the  coinpar 
atively  level  country.  On  the  eastern  edge  of  the  basin  the  plains  have 
been  deeply  eroded  and  begin  to  pass  into  the  condition  of  "bad  lands," 
a  type  of  country  which  prevails  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Black  Hills. 

The  lofty  slopes  of  the  mountain  ranges  are  thickly  clothed  with  tim- 
ber, some  of  it  of  great  value,  becoming  more  so  as  settlement  advances. 
The  map,  PI.  cix,  has  been  colored  to  show  the  general  distribution  of 
this  timber  and  also  of  the  areas  containing  a  notable  amount  of  wood 
suitable  for  fuel.  The  remainder  of  the  drainage  basin  consists  for  the 


NKWELL.]  DISCHARGE    OF    YELLOWSTONE    RIVER.  65 

most  part  ot  grazing  or  hay  lands,  there  being  few  localities  in  which 
food  for  cattle  can  not  be  found  during  a  part  of  the  year  at  least.  The 
area  covered  in  whole  or  in  part  by  timber  has  been  estimated  to  be 
11,320  square  miles,  and  by  scattering  firewood  13,580  square  miles, 
leaving  44,783  square  miles  suitable  for  grazing,  a  small  part  of  this 
being  so  situated  that  it  can  be  brought  under  cultivation  by  ii  rigation. 

AREA  IRRIGATED. 

Iii  this  basin  the  total  area  irrigated  and  from  which  crops  were  ob 
tained  in  1889,  as  shown  by  the  Eleventh  census,  was  108,934  acres,  or 
170-21  square  miles.  This  is  only  0-38  per  cent  of  the  total  area  con- 
sidered as  pasture  land,  the  soil  of  most  of  which  is  fertile  and  only 
needs  the  application  of  water  to  produce  good  crops.  There  are  within 
the  basin  a  few  localities  where  farmers  are  moderately  successful 
without  irrigation,  but  these  cases  are  considered  as  exceptional,  for, 
as  a  rule,  the  rainfall,  although  heaviest  in  the  summer  season,  is  insuf- 
ficient for  the  needs  of  most  crops. 

The  places  at  which  irrigation  has  been  carried  on  are  shown  on  the 
map  by  the  dark  spots,  the  area  of  these,  however,  not  being  in  true 
proportion,  but  are  somewhat  exaggerated  in  order  to  make  them  ap- 
parent. Along  the  rivers  a  portion  of  the  lower  land  has  been  distin- 
guished by  a  different  tint  to  indicate  the  irrigable  areas  or  lands  to 
which  water  may  be  brought  in  the  future,  the  area  and  location  of 
these  depending  of  course  upon  the  manner  in  which  the  water  supply 
is  utilized. 

WATER   MEASUREMENTS. 

The  measurements  of  the  amount  of  water  flowing  in  the  Yellow- 
stone made  by  the  Geological  Survey  have  been  described  in  the  pre- 
vious report1  where  are  also  given  the  results  of  four  gaugings  made 
below  Yellowstone  lake.  In  addition  measurements  have  been  made 
by  officers  of  the  Engineer  Corps,  U.  S.  Army,  giving  the  total  amount 
of  water  carried  at  various  points  on  the  main  stream.2  One  of  these, 
made  at  the  junction  of  the  Bighorn  and  Yellowstone  in  August,  1879, 
showed  that  the  Yellowstone  above  the  Bighorn  was  discharging  at 
the  rate  of  7,471  second- feet  and  the  Bighorn  5,865  second-feet,  making 
the  total  discharge  below  this  point  13,336  second-feet.  Further  down 
stream,  at  Fort  Keogh,  above  Miles  City,  in  September,  1878,  the  dis- 
charge was  14,462  second-feet,  and  in  October,  1879,  6,505  second-feet, 
showing  a  comparatively  wide  range  for  the  late  summer  season.  At 
Wolf  rapids,  about  a  mile  below  the  mouth  of  Powder  river,  the  dis- 
charge in  September,  1878,  was  11,235  second-feet,  and  at  Diamond 
island,  about  30  miles  above  the  junction  of  the  Missouri,  the  discharge 

"Eleventh  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pt.  II,  Irrigation,  pp.  36-38;  see  also  tables  in  Appendix  oi 
this  report,  p.  93. 

2  Ann.  Kept.  Chief  of  Eng.,  U,  S.  Army,  1880,  p.  1476.    See  also  report  for  1879,  p.  1101,  and  for  1883,  p. 
1351.    For  distances,  fall,  and  rate  of  fall  per  mile  see  report  for  1880,  p.  1477. 
13  GEOL.,  PT.  Ill 5 


66 


WATER  SUPPLY  FOR  IRRIGATION. 


in  October,  1878,  was  8,155  second-feet.  The  above,  with  one  gauging 
of  the  Bighorn  made  by  W.  H.  Graves,  engineer  of  the  Indian  bureau, 
comprise  nearly  all  the  data  available.  This  latter  measurement  of 
the  Bighorn  was  made  near  the  mouth  of  the  canyon  on  September  4, 
1891.  The  width  of  the  river  was  257  feet,  the  average  depth  2-91  feet, 
the  rate  of  flow  4-28  feet  per  second,  and  the  computed  discharge  3,200 
second-feet.  The  drainage  basin  at  this  locality  is  about  18,000  square 
miles,  and  the  average  fall  from  the  canyon  down  to  Fort  Ouster  7  feet 
per  mile. 


12000 


10000 


8000 


6000 


4000 


2000 


\ 


d 


FIG.  56. — Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  Yellowstone  river  near  Horr,  Montana,  for  1891  and  1892. 

Observations  of  the  height  of  the  river  at  Horr,  about  4  miles  below 
Cinnabar,  have  been  made  by  the  Geological  Survey  since  August, 
1889,  giving  data  from  which  to  compute  the  daily  discharge  as  shown 
on  Fig.  56.1  Above  this  point  the  water  has  not  been  diverted,  a  great 
part  of  the  area  drained  being  within  the  Yellowstone  National  park. 
The  features  of  this  wonderful  country  have  been  described  in  many 
publications,  notably  in  the  volumes  of  the  U.  S.  Geological  and  Geo- 
graphical Survey  of  the  Territories,  commonly  known  as  the  "  Hayden 
Survey,"  from  its  chief,  Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden.  In  this  connection  it  is 
sufficient  to  state  that  the  catchment  basin  of  the  river  above  Horr  con- 
sists of  a  high  volcanic  plateau,  situated  at  a  mean  elevation  of  about 
8,000  feet,  surrounded  by  rugged  mountain  ranges  whose  summits  rise 
to  altitudes  of  from  10,000  to  11,000  feet  and  over  above  sea  level.  Yel- 
lowstone lake  is  a  natural  reservoir  tending  to  equalize  the  flow  of  the 
river  and  in  which  if  necessary  an  enormous  amount  of  water  could  be 
held  at  relatively  small  expense.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  this 
will  ever  be  desirable,  since  the  Yellowstone  Eiver  carries  an  amount 

1  See  also  Twelfth  Ann.  Kept.  TJ.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  PI.  LXIV,  p.  236. 


NEWELL.]  RAINFALL    IN   YELLOWSTONE    RIVER.  67 

of  water  far  in  excess  of  the  needs  of  the  lands  which  can  be  brought 
under  ditch  by  ordinary  means. 

A  few  measurements  were  made  at  Springdale,  east  of  Livingston, 
and  about  70  miles  below  Horr,  but  the  results  at  this  place  did  not 
materially  differ  from  those  at  Horr,  and  therefore  work  at  that  point 
was  abandoned.  Near  the  headwaters  of  the  Tongue  and  Powder 
rivers  the  state  engineer  of  Wyoming  has  made  a  number  of  gaugings 
of  streams  of  importance  in  irrigation.  A  brief  statement  of  the  results 
of  these  measurements  is  given  further  on  in  the  description  of  the 
basins  of  the  rivers  mentioned. 

As  a  general  statement  it  may  be"  said  that  the  amount  of  water  in 
the  Yellowstone  and  its  principal  tributary,  the  Bighorn,  is  far  in  ex- 
cess of  any  demand  to  be  made  upon  it.  It  does  not  seem  credible  that 
irrigation  works  will  ever  be  constructed  of  a  magnitude  such  that  a 
serious  diminution  of  the  annual  discharge  will  take  place.  In  the  case 
of  the  small  tributaries,  however,  issuing  from  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Absaroka  and  other  ranges  of  this  group  and  from  the  Bighorn  moun- 
tains, where  the  supply,  though  in  the  aggregate  large,  is  well  distrib- 
uted, the  amount  ordinarily  available  is  not  sufficient  for  all  demands. 
In  these  localities  are  many  valleys  where  on  account  of  the  rapid  fall 
of  the  streams  water  can  be  readily  diverted  upon  arable  lands  and  in  the 
aggregate  thousands  of  acres  brought  under  cultivation.  It  is  in  such 
places  that  economy  in  the  use  of  water  must  be  observed  and  the  sum- 
mer flow  increased,  if  possible,  by  the  construction  of  storage  reser- 
voirs. 

PRECIPITATION. 

In  the  Yellowstone  basin  there  are  comparatively  few  localities  at 
which  measurements  of  the  amount  of  rainfall  have  been  made.  The 
longest  records  are  those  which  have  been  kept  by  post  surgeons  at 
various  camps  and  forts.  From  these  records,  collected  and  published 
by  the  Signal  Service  of  the  Army,  it  is  apparent  that  the  annual  pre- 
cipitation ranges  from  10  inches  on  the  plains  in  the  northeastern  part 
of  the  basin  up  to  30  inches  or  over  in  the  valleys  among  the  mountains. 
No  observations  have  been  made  as  to  the  depth  of  precipitation  on  the 
high  summits,  but  it  is  probable  that  it  amounts  to  as  much  as  40 
inches  or  even  more. 

In  the  following  list  are  given  the  names  of  the  principal  stations  at 
which  measurements  have  been  made,  together  with  the  number  of 
years  and  the  average  depth  of  precipitation : 


Locality. 

Length 
of  record. 

Average 
depth  of 
rainfall. 

Yearg. 
2 
9 
4 
30 
12 
2 

Inches. 
25-46 
10-14 
10-53 
13-16 
12-90 
10-15 

68 


WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 


The  first  of  these  stations,  that  in  the  Yellowstone  National  park,  is 
at  an  altitude  of  over  6,300  feet,  and  is  surrounded  by  high  peaks,  and 
thus,  as  might  be  expected,  the  amount  of  precipitation  is  relatively 
great.  Most  of  this  comes  in  the  winter  months,  and  in  this  respect 
differs  from  records  at  other  localities  in  the  basin.  The  distribution 
of  rainfall  during  the  year  at  these  places  is  similar  in  most  respects  to 
that  in  the  Missouri  basin,  the  greater  part  of  the  rainfall  occurring  in 
May  and  June,  as  shown  graphically  on  Fig.  52. 

Taking  the  mean  monthly  rainfall  at  the  stations  named  above, 
excepting  Camp  Sheridan,  the  precipitation  per  month  obtained  by 
averaging  these  is  as  follows: 


Inches. 

Per  cent. 

January  

0'64 

5-7 

February  

0-50 

4-5 

March  

0-56 

5-0 

April  

1-05 

9.4 

2-  13 

19'1 

1-88 

16-9 

1'25 

11-2 

0'92 

8'3 

0-86 

7-7 

0-67 

6-0 

November  

0-36 

3-2 

December  

0-34 

3-0 

Total  

11-16 

100-0 

YELLOWSTONE   RIVER   ABOVE   BIGHORN. 

In  a  detailed  description  of  the  water  supply  of  the  Yellowstone  basin 
it  becomes  convenient  to  divide  the  whole  area  into  a  number  of  sub- 
basins,  each  embracing  the  catchment  of  a  large  tributary  or  a  portion 
of  the  main  stream.  The  first  of  these  sub-basins  may  be  taken  as  that 
portion  of  the  Yellowstone  basin  which  includes  the  headwaters  down 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Bighorn  river.  Next  in  geographic  order  on  the 
east  is  the  basin  of  the  Bighorn,  succeeded  by  those  of  the  Tongue  and 
of  the  Powder  river,  arid  finally  the  remaining  area  tributary  to  the 
lower  part  of  the  main  stream. 

The  general  character  of  the  catchment  basin  of  the  Upper  Yellow- 
stone has  been  briefly  described  above.  After  leaving  the  great  canyons 
below  the  National  park  the  river  flows  through  a  narrow  valley,  in  which 
a  small  amount  of  irrigation  is  practiced,  mainly  by  means  of  water  from 
mountain  streams.  At  the  northern  end  of  this  valley  the  river  passes 
through  the  lower  canyon  and  shortly  beyond  this  locality  takes  a 
general  course  toward  the  east,  the  lowlands  becoming  wider  and 
better  adapted  for  agricultural  purposes.  As  shown  by  the  map,  the 
river  partially  encircles  the  northern  end  of  the  Absaroka  or  Snowy 
range,  receiving  from  these  lofty  mountains  a  great  number  of  streams 
which  flow  out  toward  almost  every  point  of  the  compass,  emptying 
directly  into  the  Yellowstone,  or,  uniting,  form  large  tributaries,  such, 
for  example,  as  Clarke  Fork.  These  streams  carry  a  perennial  sup- 


NEWELL,]  UPPER   YELLOWSTONE    RIVER.  69 

ply  of  water,  which  is  utilized  wherever  possible  upon  the  lowlands  in 
the  narrow  valleys.  The  streams  coming  into  the  river  from  the  lower 
mountain  ranges  on  the  left  hand,  viz,  the  western  or  northern  side, 
discharge  a  relatively  small  amount  of  water,  the  quantity  being  far 
less  than  that  needed  to  supply  the  agricultural  land,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence there  have  been  quarrels  and  expensive  litigation  concerning 
the  division  of  water.  In  a  number  of  instances  attempts  have  been 
made  to  increase  the  summer  discharge  of  small  streams  by  the  con- 
struction of  storage  reservoirs  by  farmers,  working  singly  or  in  part- 
nership. 

Little  if  any  water  is  taken  from  the  main  river  until  a  point  about 
30  miles  above  Billings  is  reached.  At  and  below  this  point  are  a  num- 
ber of  canals  and  ditches  on  the  north  side  covering  laud  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Park  city,  and  from  thence  down  to  Billings.  The  principal  of 
these  in  order  are  the  canal  of  the  Minnesota  and  Montana  Land  and 
Improvement  Company,  the  Italian  Company's  ditch,  Mill  ditch,  Clarkes 
Fork  ditch,  and  the  Yellowstone  and  Canyon  creek  ditch. 

Clarkes  fork  enters  the  Yellowstone  from  the  south  side  about  10 
miles  east  of  Park  city.  It  discharges  a  large  quantity  of  water,  the 
amount  of  which  has  not  been  ascertained.  Irrigation  is  carried  on  at 
various  places  along  the  head  waters  in  Bighorn  county,  Wyoming, 
but  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  stream  throughout  its  course  in  Montana 
is  within  the  area  lately  a  part  of  the  Crow  Indian  reservation  the 
waters  in  that  State  have  not  been  utilized. 

BIGHORN   RIVER. 

The  Bighorn  river  rises  on  the  northeasterly  side  of  the  Wind  river 
mountains  and  flows  northerly  between  the  Bighorn  and  Absaroka 
ranges,  receiving  many  large  tributaries  from  both  of  these  great 
mountain  masses.  The  water  supply  is  in  excess  of  any  demands  likely 
to  be  made  upon  it  for  many  years,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  larger 
bodies  of  agricultural  land  along  its  course  can  only  be  reached  by 
long  and  expensive  canals.  The  greater  part  of  this  basin  is  compara- 
tively inaccessible,  owing  to  the  distance  from  lines  of  transportation. 
The  principal  industries  are  mining  and  stock  raising,  a  small  amount 
of  irrigation  being  practiced  on  lands  mainly  near  mining  camps  or  on 
the  low  grounds  of  cattle  ranches.  The  White  river  or  Shoshone  Indian 
reservation  in  Wyoming  and  the  Crow,  Indian  reservation  in  Montana 
cover  some  of  the  best  land  in  this  basin,  but  outside  of  these  are  many 
localities  to  which  water  can  profitably  be  brought. 

The  greater  part  of  the  irrigation  is  in  the  vicinity  of  Lander,  south 
of  the  Wind  river  reservation,  water  for  the  cultivated  lands  being 
taken  from  the  Popo  Agie  and  its  tributaries.  From  this  point  north- 
erly along  the  base  of  the  mountains  on  both  sides  of  the  river  water 
has  been  diverted  in  a  small  way  from  the  head  waters  of  the  Wind 
river,  Owl  creek,  Grey  Bull,  Badwater,  and  other  streams.  There  are 


70  WATER  SUPPLY  FOR  IRRIGATION. 

no  large  canals,  but  many  ditches  dug  by  individuals  or  by  a  number  of 
irrigators  acting  in  partnership. 

Measurements  of  the  amount  of  water  in  many  of  the  small  streams 
in  the  vicinity  of  Lander  were  made  by  the  state  engineer  during  the 
summer  of  1892,1  the  principal  results  of  which  are  given  in  round 
numbers  in  the  following  table: 


Date. 

Stream. 

Discharge 
in  second- 
feet. 

Jnne  19,  1892 
June  23,  1892 
June  27,  1892 
July     5,  1892 
July  20,1892 
Aug.    4,1892 
Aug.    8,1892 
Aug.    8,1892 

70 
26 
6 
619 
343 
67 
9 
5 

North  Fork  Popo  Agio  river 
Middle  Fork  Popo  Agie  rive 
Little  Popo  Agie  river  

A  few  measurements  were  also  made  about  this  time  giving  the  dis- 
charge of  Bighorn  river  at  the  ferry  at  Alamo  in  Bighorn  county.  The 
results  showed  that  on  July  10  the  mean  velocity  at  this  point  was  4.72 
feet  per  second,  and  the  total  discharge  9,707  second-feet.  On  July  14 
the  Stinking  Water  river  at  the  bride  at  Corbett  had  a  mean  velocity 
of  6.22  feet  per  second  and  was  discharging  4,974  second-feet,  this 
water  entering  the  Bighorn  about  45  miles  below  Alamo. 

Within  the  Crow  Indian  reservation  in  Montana  a  small  amount  of 
irrigation  has  been  carried  on  by  Indians  by  use  of  water  from  the 
Little  Bighorn.  This  stream  receives  water  from  the  northern  end  of 
the  Bighorn  range,  and  is  of  sufficient  size  to  irrigate  a  large  acreage. 
Surveys  have  been  made  under  the  direction  of  the  Indian  Bureau, 
and  estimates  prepared  of  the  expense  of  canals  in  order  to  determine 
the  feasibility  of  systems  of  irrigation  supplied  with  water  from  the 
Bighorn  and  from  the  Little  Bighorn.  It  has  been  ascertained  that 
water  can  be  diverted  upon  the  highlands  between  the  two  streams  or 
upon  those  to  the  west  of  the  main  river  at  a  cost  per  acre  sufficiently 
low  to  justify  construction. 

TONGUE   RIVER. 

The  Tongue  river  heads  on  the  northeasterly  slopes  of  the  Bighorn 
range  in  Sheridan  county,  Wyoming.  Below  the  junction  of  its  prin- 
cipal tributaries  the  river  flows  in  a  direction  a  little  east  of  north 
through  Ouster  county,  Montana,  entering  the  Yellowstone.  Irriga- 
tion is  carried  on  in  Wyoming  to  a  large  and  constantly  increasing 
extent  by  means  of  the  many  streams  draining  the  high  mountains, 
these  being  widely  distributed  and  easily  diverted  upon  land  among 
the  foothills.  On  account  of  this  fact  Sheridan  county  is  rapidly 
becoming  one  of  the  principal  agricultural  localities  of  the  state. 
In  the  aggregate,  however,  there  is  more  good  farming  land  than  can 

1  First  biennial  report  of  the  state  engineer  to  the  governor  of  Wyoming,  1891  and  1892.  Chey- 
enne, Wyoming,  1892.  Appendix,  p.  xxi. 


NEWELL.]  TONGUE   AND    POWDER   RIVERS.  71 

be  irrigated,  and  along  some  of  the  small  streams  there  is  occasionally 
a  scanty  supply.  Gaugings  of  a  few  of  the  more  important  streams 
have  been  made  by  Prof.  Elwood  Mead,  state  engineer  of  Wyoming. 
The  data1  furnished  by  him  show  that  on  June  29, 1891,  Little  Goose 
creek  at  Davis  ranch  discharged  109  second-feet;  on  July  5,  1889,  Big. 
Goose  creek  at  Beckton  bridge  discharged  169  second-feet  and  on  July 
1,  1893,  at  Sheridan  bridge,  1,009  second-feet;  on  July  29, 1891,  Tongue 
river  at  Dayton  bridge  discharged  192  second-feet,  and  on  July  28  the 
south  fork  of  Tongue  river  at  Burkitt's  flume  discharged  18  second-feet. 

Outside  of  the  foothills  it  becomes  a  matter  of  considerable  trouble 
and  expense  to  divert  the  water,  on  account  of  the  banks  of  the  stream 
in  most  cases  being  high  and  the  material  of  such  a  nature  that  it 
washes  away  or  softens  under  the  action  of  water.  The  river  is  very 
crooked,  crossing  the  bottom  lands  from  bluif  to  bluff,  rendering  it  ex- 
pensive and  even  impossible  to  build  long  ditches.  With  increase  of 
population,  however,  it  will  doubtless  be  practicable  to  attempt  large 
schemes  to  cover  the  higher  lauds  and  utilize  most  of  the  water  in  the 
main  stream. 

In  its  course  through  Montana  there  is  comparatively  little  irriga- 
tion along  the  river.  A  few  ditches  have  been  dug,  but  there  are  not 
many  localities  where  water  can  be  diverted  at  small  expense.  At- 
tempts have  been  made  to  use  pumps  in  order  to  lift  the  water  up  to 
the  top  of  the  steep  banks.  The  bottom  lands  are  usually  narrow  and 
so  frequently  cut  by  the  river  in  its  course  from  side  to  side  that  ditches 
can  not  be  built.  At  Miles  is  the  largest  ditch  along  the  lower  course 
of  the  Tongue  river.  This  heads  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  about 
15  miles  above  the  Yellowstone  and  follows  down  along  the  stream  to 
Miles,  where  it  turns  off  into  the  valley  of  the  Yellowstone.  The 
water  in  Tongue  river  is  raised  by  a  dam  to  a  height  of  about  7  feet 
above  low  water,  diverting  it  into  the  canal. 

Between  the  Bighorn  and  Powder  rivers  is  the  Rosebud,  which  flows 
northerly  into  the  Yellowstone.  This  river  does  not  head  in  the  high 
mountains,  and  therefore  during  a  large  part  of  the  year  is  nearly  dry. 
There  are  probably  twenty  ditches  along  the  stream,  irrigating  small 
areas  of  hay,  grain,  and  vegetables.  In  July,  August,  and  September 
the  water  often  ceases  to  run,  and  for  sometime  during  late  spring  the 
creek  furnishes  barely  enough  for  the  land  under  cultivation,  so  that  it 
will  be  necessary  to  store  some  of  the  water  which  flows  to  waste  in  the 
early  part  of  the  year  in  order  to  utilize  a  considerable  proportion  of  the 
agricultural  land  in  this  valley. 

POWDER   RIVER. 

The  Powder  river  receives  the  greater  part  of  its  water  from  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Bighorn  range,  its  upper  tributaries  being  south  of 
those  of  Tongue  river.  These  are  utilized  for  irrigation  at  points  along 

1  First  biennial  report  of  the  state  engineer  to  the  governor  of  Wyoming,  1891  and  1892.  Chey- 
enne, Wyo.,  1892.  Appendix,  pp.  xix  and  xxi. 


72  WATER   SUPPLY    FOR   IRRIGATION. 

the  foothills  where  they  can  be  readily  diverted;  a  comparatively  small 
amount  of  water  escaping  to  the  main  river  during  the  irrigating  sea- 
son. The  ditches  highest  up  on  the  stream  receive  usually  an  abun- 
dant supply,  while  those  lower  down  are  often  short  of  water,  causing 
many  controversies  which  require  the  intervention  of  state  officers.  In 
1889  there  was  an  unusual  drought,  and  many  of  the  upper  streams, 
especially  those  receiving  water  from  the  lower  foothills,  were  entirely 
dry,  resulting  in  large  losses  of  crops.  At  a  distance  of  from  20  to  50 
miles  from  the  mountains  the  waters  of  the  various  streams  are  fully 
appropriated,  and  in  many  cases  the  amount  called  for  is  far  in  excess 
of  the  ordinary  discharge.  The  measurements  made  by  Prof.  Elwood 
Mead l  show  that  on  June  3, 1891,  Clear  creek,  at  weir  in  the  canyon, 
discharged  552  second-feet,  and  on  August  3,  at  the  same  place,  72 
second-feet;  also,  on  August  12,  Eock  creek  below  the  forks,  near 
Buffalo,  Johnson  county,  discharged  17  second-feet.  Many  other 
streams  were  measured,  the  result  in  each  case  being  less  than  5  second- 
feet. 

As  the  Powder  river  and  its  tributaries  leave  the  vicinity  <5f  the 
mountains  the  amount  of  water  available  decreases,  the  expense  of 
taking  it  out  upon  the  laud  becomes  greater,  and  long  before  reaching 
the  Montana  line  no  irrigation  is  attempted.  In  its  course  through 
Ouster  county  in  the  latter  state  the  river  during  a  great  part  of  the 
year  ceases  to  flow,  and  owing  to  the  character  of  the  country  irriga- 
tion is  practically  impossible.  This  part  of  the  basin  of  the  Yellow- 
stone is  within  the  "  bad  lands,"  and  has  little  or  no  value  for  agricul- 
ture or  stock-raising. 

LOWER  YELLOWSTONE   RIVER. 

From  Billings  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  there  are  at  intervals 
small  areas  of  irrigated  land,  these  being  mainly  at  places  where  tribu- 
taries enter  from  the  north  or  south.  The  amount  of  water  in  the  river, 
as  shown  by  the  measurements  previously  mentioned,  is  very  great,  but 
none  of  this  has  been  diverted  by  canals  on  account  of  the  very  gentle 
fall  of  the  stream.  In  a  few  localities  pumps  have  been  erected  and 
sufficient  water  raised  to  cover  small  gardens  or  to  irrigate  trees.  The 
side  streams,  however,  have  a  greater  slope  and  can  be  controlled  by 
dams  raising  the  water  above  the  level  of  the  lower  land.  The  largest 
system  of  irrigation  is  that  previously  mentioned  as  being  in  the  vicinity 
of  Miles. 

On  account  of  the  great  expense  of  building  canals  to  cover  the  low 
land  along  the  Yellowstone  many  of  the  farmers  have  been  compelled 
to  resort  to  what  are  known  as. "  high- water  "  ditches.  These  are  dug 
at  places  where  during  the  high  water  of  spring  they  will  receive  some 

•First  biennial  report  of  the  state  engineer  to  the  governor  of  Wyoming,  1891  and  1892.  Chey- 
enne, Wyo.,  1892.  Appendix,  p.  xix. 


NEWELL.]  AREA    OF    PLATTE    RIVER.  73 

of  the  overflow,  carrying  it  out  upon  grounds  farther  down  the  stream. 
In  this  way  a  large  acreage,  mainly  of  hay  land,  can  be  given  one 
thorough  soaking.  Beyond  the  bottom  lands  are  vast  areas  of  fertile 
land  lying  at  a  height  above  the  river  so  great  that  it  is  improbable 
that  water  can  ever  ba  brought  to  them.  To  irrigate  these  plains  would 
necessitate  the  construction  of  a  canal  of  100  miles  at  least  in  length, 
and  if  practicable  the  expense  will  doubtless  be  too  great  for  any  ordi- 
nary corporation  to  undertake.  To  determine  the  feasibility  of  such  a 
canal  will  require  careful  surveys  and  a  thorough  examination  of  the 
matter  from  all  standpoints. 

PLATTE  RIVER  BASIN. 
LOCATION  AND   AREA. 

The  drainage  basin  of  the  Platte  above  the  junction  of  the  north  and 
south  branches  lies  mainly  in  southeastern  Wyoming  and  northern 
Colorado,  a  small  portion  being  within  the  state  of  Nebraska.  As 
shown  by  the  index  map,  Fig.  51,  this  basin  on  the  northwest  adjoins 
that  of  the  Yellowstone.  On  the  west  are  the  headwaters  of  the  Colo- 
rado river,  on  the  south  those  of  the  Arkansas,  and  on  the  northeast 
and  southeast  are  the  streams  which,  coining  from  springs  on  the  Great 
Plains,  flow  easterly  into  the  Missouri  river.  The  basin  as  a  whole, 
as  shown  by  PI.  ex,  slopes  from  the  mountains  in  the  southwestern 
part,  both  north  and  easterly,  the  greatest  fall  being  in  the  latter  direc- 
tion. 

The  total  area  of  this  basin  is  57,320  square  miles,  of  which  24,240 
square  miles  are  in  Wyoming,  22,230  square  miles  in  Colorado,  and 
10,850  square  miles  in  Nebraska.  Of  the  area  in  Colorado  2,025  square 
miles  are  included  within  the  drainage  basin  of  the  North  Platte  and 
20,205  square  miles  in  that  of  the  South  Platte,  this  latter  basin  being 
thus  almost  entirely  within  Colorado.  The  line  of  watershed  of  the 
basins  of  the  North  and  South  Platte  is  not  sharply  defined,  except 
among  the  high  mountains.  Throughout  the  Great  Plains  it  is  very 
indefinite,  and  also  in  the  high  almost  desert  area  in  Swee,twater  county, 
Wyoming.  A  somewhat  arbitrary  line  has,  therefore,  been  taken  as 
bounding  these  sides. 

The  North  Platte  rises  in  the  northern  part  of  the  main  range  of  the 
Rocky  mountains  in  Colorado  and  flows  in  a  general  northerly  course 
nearly  half  across  Wyoming.  The  direction  taken  by  this  part  of  the 
river  shows  plainly  the  general  slope  of  the  surface  of  Wyoming  toward 
the  north.  A  relatively  slight  depression  of  the  central  part  of  the 
state  would  throw  the  waters  of  this  stream  directly  into  the  head- 
waters of  Powder  river,  which  flows  northerly  on  the  prolongation  of 
the  course  taken  by  the  upper  part  of  the  North  Platte.  This  latter 
river,  however,  shortly  after  receiving  the  Sweetwater  from  the  west, 
begins  to  swing  around  toward  the  east,  flowing  along  the  upper  edge 


74  WATER   SUPPLY    FOR   IRRIGATION. 

of  the  drainage  basin,  and,  having  described  nearly  a  half  circle  around 
the  Larainie  hills,  takes  a  southeasterly  course  and  flows  for  over  150 
miles  in  an  almost  straight  line.  The  principal  tributary,  the  Laramie 
river,  curves  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  of  the  upper  waters  of  the 
North  Platte.  It  rises  behind  the  Laramie  range,  flows  northerly,  and 
then  gradually  turns  toward  the  east,  passing  through  the  range  to 
join  the  main  river. 

The  South  Platte  rises  behind  the  Front  range  of  the  Eocky  moun- 
tains and,  passing  out  through  a  canyon,  flows  along  the  foothills,  col- 
lecting in  its  northerly  course  the  waters  of  a  large  number  of  mountain 
creeks,  each  of  which  issues  through  a  deep  canyon.  After  receiving 
the  Cache  la  Poudre,  the  largest  stream  of  this  part  of  the  country,  the 
river  turns  toward  the  east  and  flows  out  through  the  Great  Plains. 
As  the  North  and  the  South  Platte  continue  on  their  way  through  the 
comparatively  level  country  they  converge  at  first  rapidly  and  then 
more  and  more  slowly,  flowing  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other  for  a 
distance  of  over  50  miles,  the  bed  of  the  South  Platte  being  probably 
slightly  higher  than  that  of  the  North  Platte. 

ELEVATION  AND  TOPOGRAPHY. 

The  general  elevation  of  the  basin  is  best  shown  by  the  following 
table,  prepared  by  means  of  measurements  of  the  areas  inclosed  by 
contour  lines  on  PI.  ex,  this  plate  being  a  portion  of  the  large  map  of 
the  United  States  compiled  by  Henry  Gannett.  The  line  of  the  divide, 
as  previously  stated,  has  been  arbitrarily  assumed  in  various  parts  of 
the  more  level  country. 

Square 
miles. 

Total  area 57,320 


•  Area  under  3,000  feet 700 

Area  from  3,000  to  4,000  feet 5,960 

Area  from  4,000  to  5,000  feet 14, 660 

Area  from  5,000  to  7,000  feet 21, 660 

Area  above  7,000  feet 14,340 

The  basin  as*  a  whole  is  among  the  most  elevated  in  the  country,  an 
almost  insignificant  portion,  that  near  the  junction  of  the  two  branches, 
being  under  3,000  feet.  From  this  point  the  country  gradually  rises, 
preserving  the  character  of  a  plain  until  the  altitude  of  7,000  feet  or 
over  is  reached,  the  base  of  the  mountains  being  at  about  this  eleva- 
tion above  sea  level.  On  the  northern  side  of  the  basin  the  undulating 
or  slightly  broken  plains,  mainly  under  7,000  feet  in  altitude,  sweep 
around  through  the  ranges  of  the  Eocky  mountains  to  the  head  waters 
of  streams  flowing  into  the  Pacific  or  into  the  Great  Interior  basin, 
and  a  traveler  can  pass  over  the  continental  divide  almost  without 
seeing  a  mountain  peak  except  in  the  far  distance.  In  the  south  half 
of  the  basin,  however,  the  Front  range  of  the  Eockies  presents  a  bold 
face  to  the  east  and  apparently  blocks  advance  toward  the  west.  These 


U.S. GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 


THIRTEENTH  ANNUAL  REPORT,. PL.CX. 


LEGEND. 

Irrigated^      Lands 
Pasture 
Firewoo 
Timber     '        " 


NEWELL.]  IRRIGATION   IN   PLATTE    BASIN.  75 

mountains  and  those  to  the  rear  rise  to  altitudes  of  from  10,000  to 
12,000  feet  or  more,  and  their  peaks  are  for  a  great  part  of  the  year 
covered  with  snow.  Among  these  are  broad  parks  whose  bottom  lands 
are  8,000  feet  or  more  in  height.  From  the  North  park  comes  the 
North  Platte,  from  the  Middle  park  the  Grand  river,  flowing  into  the 
Colorado,  and  from  the  South  park  the  headwaters  of  the  South 
Platte.  These  and  other  smaller  valleys  are  traversed  by  many  streams, 
and  besides  furnishing  excellent  grazing  produce  large  quantities  of 
hay. 

LAND    CLASSIFICATION. 

Plate  ex  has  been  colored  to  represent  in  a  general  way  the  charac- 
ter of  the  country.  The  darker  color  represents  the  area  upon  which 
forests  suitable  for  timber  have  grown,  while  the  lighter  shade  covers 
the  areas  within  which  trees  fit  only  for  firewood  are  to  be  found.  The 
uucolored  portion  on  the  western  end  of  the  map  is  the  high  desert 
region,  upon  which  there  is  very  little,  if  any,  forage.  The  rest  of  the 
basin  may  be  considered  as  suitable  for  grazing,  and  in  most  places  the 
soil,  if  watered,  is  excellent  for  farming  purposes. 

The  total  area  of  the  timber  land  as  shown  by  the  map  is  5,380  square 
miles;  of  the  firewood,  4,820  square  miles,  and  of  the  desert  area? 
about  3,000  square  miles,  leaving  in  the  basin  a  total  of  44,120  square 
miles  of  grazing  and  agricultural  land,  this  latter  area  being  distin- 
guished by  the  brownish  tint.  Within  this  are  spots  indicated  by  a 
dark  color  showing  the  relative  location  of  lands  under  cultivation  by 
irrigation,  and  along  the  streams  mainly  are  strips  of  lighter  tint,  show- 
ing lands  which  possibly  may  be  brought  under  irrigation  by  a  thorough 
utilization  of  the  water  supply. 

EXTENT   OF   IRRIGATION. 

The  total  area  upon  which  crops  were  raised  by  irrigation  in  1889  was^ 
as  shown  by  the  Eleventh  Census,  542,602  acres.  Of  this  amount 
412,683  acres  were  in  Colorado,  120,893  acres  in  Wyoming,  and  9,026 
acres  in  Nebraska.  As  shown  by  the  map,  PI.  ex,  these  areas  are 
clustered  around  the  base  of  the  mountain  ranges  where  the  streams 
issue  from  the  canyon  or  broken  ground  out  upon  the  edge  of  the  plains. 
There  are  also  a  few  localities  further  down  stream  where  water  has 
been  diverted,  but  these  are  relatively  of  less  importance,  largely  on 
account  of  the  fact  that  little  dependence  can  be  placed  upon  the  sup- 
ply of  water  duriifg  summer. 

As  a  rule  it  may  be  said  that  wherever  water  can  be  obtained  and 
brought  out  at  moderate  expense  upon  arable  land  this  has  already 
been  done.  On  all  of  the  minor  streams  of  the  basin  an  amount  of  water 
is  claimed  to  exceed  that  which  ordinarily  can  be  found  in  them.  Cul- 
tivation has  advanced  to  such  an  extent  that  during  the  summer  there 


76  WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 

is  not  sufficient  water  available  to  fill  the  demands  of  the  farmers.  The 
principal  exception  is  in  the  case  of  the  Xorth  Platte,  where  there  is 
always  a  surplus  of  water,  but  which,  however,  can  only  be  utilized  by 
the  construction  of  extensive  systems  of  irrigation. 

The  basin  of  the  Platte,  especially  that  of  the  south  branch  of  the 
river,  contains  some  of  the  largest  irrigating  canals  in  the  United  States, 
and  the  development  of  agriculture  by  the  artificial  application  of  water 
has  been  brought  to  a  state  as  high,  if  not  higher,  than  that  of  any 
other  part  of  the  country,  excepting  possibly  California.  In  Wyoming 
there  still  remain  opportunities  for  the  development  of  large  systems 
of  irrigation,  but  in  Colorado  canals  have  been  built  at  nearly  every 
favorable  locality  and  the  aggregate  capacity  of  these  is  so  great  that 
it  is  improbable  that  they  can  receive  water  sufficient  to  supply  all  of 
the  agricultural  land  which  can  be  reached  by  them. 

WATER  MEASUREMENTS. 

Measurements  of  the  amount  of  water  flowing  at  various  points  on" 
the  creeks  and  rivers  of  this  basin  have  been  made  by  the  state  engi- 
neers of  Colorado  and  Wyoming,  and  the  water  supply  is  probably 
better  known  than  that  of  any  other  area  of  its  size.  In  Colorado  some 
of  these  measurements  and  continuous  computations  of  discharge  date 
from  1884,  and  in  Wyoming  from  1887,  thus  giving  in  one  or  two 
instances  the  spring  and  summer  discharge  through  eight  years.  The 
results  of  the  work  of  the  state  engineers  of  Colorado  are  to  be  found 
in  the  biennial  reports  to  the  governor  of  the  state,  and  those  for  Wy- 
oming in  part  in  the  first  and  second  annual  report  of  the  territorial 
engineer  and  also  in  the  first  biennial  report  of  the  state  engineer.  In 
addition  to  these  data  results  of  a  number  of  gaugings  are  to  be  found 
in  reports  by  Henry  Gannett  in  the  Hayden  reports  for  187G  and  1877,1 
and  also  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  present  Geological  Survey.  All 
of  these  will  be  discussed  in  the  following  pages  under  the  head  of  the 
various  subbasins  in  which  they  were  obtained. 

PRECIPITATION. 

In  this  basin  and  in  most  of  those  of  the  western  half  of  the  United 
States  there  are  few  records  giving  the  monthly  and  annual  rainfall 
for  any  considerable  number  of  years.  The  Signal  Service  of  the  Army 
has,  however  brought  together  and  published  all  of  the  data  available, 
and  from  these  tables  the  following  condensed  statement  has  been 
obtained.2  The  mean  annual  rainfall  is  given  only  for  the  places  hav- 

1  U.  S.  Geol.  and  Geog.  Survey  of  Colorado  and  adjacent  territory,  1876.  F.  V.  Hayden.  Washing- 
ton, 1878,  pp.  311-347.  Also  TJ.  S.  Geol.  and  Geog.  Survey  of  the  territories  of  Idaho  and  Wyoming, 
1877.  F.  V.  Hayden,  Washington,  1879,  pp.  673-710. 

irrigation  and  water  storage  in  the  arid  regions,  by  Gen.  A.  W.  Greely,  chief  signal  officer,  Ex. 
Doc.  No.  287,  House,  Fifty-first  Congress,  second  session,  Washington,  1891.  Climate  of  Nebraska, 
Ex.  Doc.  No.  115,  Senate,  Fifty-first  Congress,  first  session,  1890.  Rainfall  on  the  Pacific  slope,  etc., 
Ex.  Doc.  No.  91,  Senate,  Fiftieth  Congress,  first  session,  1888. 


NEWELL.] 


RAINFALL    IN    PLATTE    BASIN. 


77 


ing  the  longest  record,  stations  where  observations  have  been  carried 
on  for  one  or  two  years  only  being  omitted.  The  order  given  is,  in  gen- 
eral, that  from  west  to  east. 


Locality. 

Length 
of  record. 

Average 
depth  of 
rainfall. 

Fort  Fred  Steele,  Wyo.,  25  miles  below  Saratoga  

Y;ars. 
12 

Inches. 
ll'OS 

Fort  Sanders,  3  miles  south  ot  Laramie  City,  Wyo  

g 

1'2  92 

Fort  Fettermau,  8  miles  above  Douglas,  Wyo  

12 

1V06 

Fort  Laramie,  Wyo  .   . 

26 

12'  30 

Cheyenne,  Wvo  

20 

11'68 

Fort  Collins,  Colo  

19 

13  "75 

Golden,  Colo  

12 

17*55 

Denver,  Colo  

22 

14-32 

Colorado  Springs,  Colo  

20 

14-79 

Pikes  Peak,  Colo  

15 

28-65 

Fort  Morgan,  Colo  

7 

8'08 

Fort  Sedgwick  and  Julesburg,  Colo  

7 

13-80 

Sidney,  N  ebr  

12 

14-23 

North  Platte,  Nebr  

15 

19'  18 

Fort  McPherson,  Nebr  

13 

17-66 

Redwillow,  Nebr  

5 

21-77 

Fort  Kearney,  Nebr  

17 

25-44 

The  highest  of  these  stations,  that  on  Pikes  peak,  is  at  an  altitude  of 
14,134  feet,  and  the  lowest,  Fort  Kearney,  Nebraska,  is  2,360  feet.  The 
other  stations  range  from  3,000  up  to  7,000  feet,  as  shown  by  the  con- 
toured map.  It  is  evident  from  an  inspection  of  the  table  that  the 
mean  annual  precipitation  over  the  greater  part  of  the  basin  is  less 
than  15  inches,  the  amount  varying  from  about  30  inches  on  the  sum 
mits  of  the  mountains  down  to  from  12  to  15  inches  at  their  base.  On 
going  away  from  the  mountains  down  the  slope  of  the  plains  the  mean 
annual  rainfall  decreases  for  some  distance,  and  as  progress  is  made 
toward  the  subhumid  regions  the  quantity  increases  up  to  20  inches  or 
more.  In  other  words,  as  is  well  known,  the  least  rainfall  is  to  be 
found  along  the  western  border  of  the  Great  plains  at  a  short  distance 
from  the  base  of  the  mountains. 

The  distribution  of  rainfall  by  months  is  quite  uniform  over  the  basin, 
being  similar  in  character  to  that  prevailing  in  the  adjoining  drainage 
basins.  By  taking  data  given  for  the  stations  above  mentioned,  except- 
ing Pikes  peak,  the  following  table  has  been  prepared,  showing  the 
mean  monthly  rainfall  of  the  localities  named  and  the  percentage  that 
this  bears  to  the  total  for  the  year : 


Inches. 

Per  cent. 

Inches. 

Per  cent. 

0-54 

3-5 

August  -  

1-65 

10-7 

•56 

3-6 

1-16 

7-6 

March  

•82 

5-4 

October  

•93 

6-1 

1-76 

11-5 

•57. 

3-8 

May 

2-65 

17'3 

•58 

3-8 

1-90 

12-4 

July" 

2-19 

14-3 

Total  

15-31 

100-0 

78  WATER    SUPPLY    FOE    IRRIGATION. 

UPPER  NORTH   PLATTE. 

The  North  Platte  river  rises  in  the  mountains  partially  surrounding 
the  North  park  in  the  western  end  of  Larimer  county,  Colorado,  and, 
flowing  northerly  out  of  the  park,  traverses  Carbon  county,  Wyoming, 
its  course  being  a  little  west  of  north.  Shortly  after  leaving  Carbon 
county  the  river  receives  from  the  west  the  Sweetwater,  which  drains 
a  part  of  the  southern  end  of  the  Wind  Eiver  range.  Irrigation  is  be- 
ing carried  on  by  the  utilization  of  nearly  all  of  the  tributaries  above 
the  Sweetwater,  the  water  supply  being  comparatively  large  and  easily 
available  for  this  purpose. 

The  North  park  is  at  an  altitude  of  from  7,500  feet  to  nearly  8,000 
feet,  while  the  mountains  surrounding  it  rise  to  heights  of  from  12,000 
to  13,000  feet  above  sea  level.  From  these  come  almost  innumerable 
streams  tributary  to  one  or  another  of  the  three  forks  which,  after  trav- 
ersing the  park  converge  at  the  lower  or  northern  end,  forming  the  North 
Platte.  The  surface  of  the  park  is  undulating,  but  from  an  elevation 
appears  to  be  quite  level.  The  greater  part  is  covered  by  native 
grasses,  furnishing  excellent  grazing.  The  climate,  however,  is  too  cold 
for  the  general  practice  of  agriculture.  Small  ditches  have  been  dug, 
taking  water  out  of  the  mountain  streams  for  the  purpose  of  irrigating 
forage,  and  according  to  the  report  of  the  state  engineer  of  Colorado, 
over  150  of  these  have  been  recorded.  The  water  supply  is  large, 
ample  for  all  present  needs. 

At  the  north  end  of  the  park  the  Medicine  Bow  range  on  the  east 
and  the  Park  range  on  the  west  approach  each  other,  the  North  Platte 
escaping  through  a  narrow  canyon  between  these,  finally  entering  the 
broad  valley.  Here  it  receives  tributaries  from  both  mountain  ranges, 
each  stream  being  of  value  for  irrigation.  The  general  height  of  the 
farming  land  is  a  little  under  7;000  feet,  the  altitude  at  Fort  Steele 
being  6,516  feet  and  at  Eawlins  6,754.  The  principal  crop  is  hay,  the 
cereals  having  a  relatively  small  acreage. 

Measurements  of  the  amount  of  water  available  have  been  made  by 
the  state  engineer  of  Wyoming,  from  whom  have  been  obtained  the 
results  of  various  gaugings,1  the  principal  of  which  are  herewith  given 
in  geographic  order.  The  most  southerly  or  highest  tributary  meas- 
ured is  Brush  creek,  coming  from  the  Medicine  Bow  range  and  enter- 
ing the  North  Platte  about  6  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  canyon.  The 
discharge  on  August  6,  1891,  at  Condict  ranch  was  34  second-feet. 
Below  this  on  the  opposite  side  are  Grand  Encampment  and  Cow 
creeks,  the  first  of  which  on  August  1  discharged  151  second-feet  and 
the  latter  14  second-feet.  The  next  in  order  is  South  Spring  creek. 
This  on  July  24,  1891,  discharged  at  a  point  about  6  miles  south  of 
Saratoga  25  second-feet,  and  North  Spring  creek  15  second-feet.  Jack 
creek  westerly  from  Saratoga  on  July  17  discharged  14  second-feet, 

"First  biennial  report  of  the  state  engineer  to  the  governor  of  Wyoming,  1891  and  1892.  Cheyenne, 
Wyo.,  1892.  Appendix,  p.  xvni. 


NEWELL.]  THE    LARAMIE    PLAINS.  79 

and  Pass  creek  20  miles  north  of  Saratoga  on  June  30  discharged  46 
second-feet.  The  water  in  all  of  these  streams  diminishes  rapidly  in 
July,  and  during  August  there  is  often  scarcity. 

There  are  no  measurements  available  of  the  amount  of  water  in  the 
North  Platte  in  this  part  of  its  course,  but  it  is  known  there  is  a  large 
volume,  and  if  canals  can  be  built  heading  in  or  near  the  canyon  and 
running  out  on  each  side  of  the  valley,  large  tracts  can  be  brought 
under  irrigation.  As  it  is  at  present  only  the  lowlands  along  the 
creeks  are  utilized,  owing  to  the  expense  involved  in  the  construction 
of  any  comprehensive  system. 

The  Sweetwater  river,  after  leaving  the  Wind  river  mountains,  flows 
in  a  general  easterly  course  from  Fremont  county  along  the  southern 
edge  of  Natrona  county  to  its  junction  with  the  North  Platte.  This 
river  discharges  a  large  perennial  supply  of  water,  the  amount  of  which 
is  not  known.  Little  if  any  irrigation  is  carried  on  along  this  stream,  on 
account  of  the  difficulty  and  expense  of  diverting  the  water  upon  the 
agricultural  lands.  The  side  streams,  however,  like  those  of  the  North 
Platte,  are  utilized  wherever  this  can  be  easily  done.  On  the  broad 
undulating  plain  through  which  this  river  runs  there  are  vast  areas  of 
fertile  laud  lying  at  an  altitude  of  a  little  over  6,000  feet.  The  soil  is 
fertile,  and  were  it  not  for  the  extreme  aridity  of  the  country,  would 
be  capable  of  producing  the  hardier  cereals  and  crops  of  grass.  It  is 
possible  that  in  the  future  canals  may  be  built  to  cover  some  of  these 
areas,  but  extensive  surveys  will  be  required  before  the  facts  can  be 
definitely  stated. 

LARAMIE   RIVER. 

The  Laramie  river  rises  in  the  Medicine  Bow  mountains  east  of  North 
park,  and,  flowing  northerly  across  the  State  line  into  Wyoming, 
reaches  the  edge  of  the  Laramie  plains.  From  this  point  it  turns 
northeasterly,  crosses  the  plains  and,  as  a  rapid,  clear  stream,  flows 
northerly  near  the  foot  of  the  Laramie  hills  through  broad,  grass- 
covered  bottoms.  A  gauging  station  has  been  established  at  Woods, 
giving  the  discharge  of  the  river  as  it  enters  upon  the  plains.  The 
record  kept  by  the  State  engineer  of  Wyoming  shows  that  in  1889,  from 
January  to  March,  inclusive,  the  discharge  was  practically  uniform, 
being  about  112  second-feet.  The  maximum  discharge,  in  June,  was 
1 ,620  second-feet,  and  the  minimum,  43  second-feet,  in  September.  A 
gauging  on  November  6,  1891,  gave  a  discharge  of  75  second-feet  and 
on  June  7,  1892,  1,571  second-feet,  the  mean  velocity  being  6-6  feet  per 
second. 

The  river  in  its  course  along  the  Laramie  plains  does  not  receive  any 
tributaries  from  the  Laramie  hills,  and,  excepting  from  the  Little  Lar- 
amie, no  water  enters  from  the  creeks  on  the  west.  These  latter 
streams,  draining  the  Medicine  Bow  range,  flow  out  upon  the  plains 
into  lakes  or  marshes,  where  the  water  evaporates,  leaving  the  smaller 


80  WATER  SUPPLY  FOR  IRRIGATION. 

lakes  at  least  strongly  alkaline.  These  mountains  rise  to  altitudes  of 
from  3,000  to  4,000  feet  above  the  plains,  thus  giving  rise  to  large 
creeks,  while  the  Laramie  hills  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  plains  are 
relatively  but  low  ridges,  rising  about  1,500  feet  above  the  bottom  lauds, 
and  the  water  from  them  flows  toward  the  east.  The  Laramie  plains  are 
about  30  miles  in  width,  and  80  miles  in  length  from  north  to  south,  and 
have  an  average  elevation  of  about  7,000  feet,  the  town  of  Laramie  being 
at  an  altitude  of  7,159  feet,  according  to  the  railroad  levels.  In  many 
respects  these  plains,  though  larger,  resemble  the  parks  within  the 
Eocky  mountains.  The  plain  with  its  ridges  and  surrounding  bench 
lands  is  well  covered  with  grass,  affording  excellent  grazing,  but  owing 
to  the  climate  there  is  little  agriculture  carried  on,  the  chief  industry 
being  stock  raising. 

The  Little  Laramie  river  rises  at  about  the  center  of  Medicine  Bow 
range,  flowing  easterly  out  upon  the  Laramie  plains  at  a  point  west  of 
the  town  of  Laramie.  This,  as  above  stated,  is  the  only  stream  which 
crosses  the  plains  and  flows  into  the  Big  Laramie.  On  May  28,  1891, 
as  gauged  by  the  state  engineer,  the  Little  Laramie  at  May's  ranch  was 
discharging  at  the  rate  of  562  second-feet  and  on  June  7,  1892,  at  the 
same  place,  618  second-feet.  North  of  this  is  Seven  Mile  creek,  which 
empties  into  James  lake.  On  June  6,  1891,  this  was  flowing  at  the  rate 
of  40  second-feet,  but  by  August  28  it  was  nearly  or  quite  dry.  About 
3  miles  further  north  is  Four  Mile  creek,  which  on  June  9,  1891,  was 
discharging  25  second-feet.  Continuing  along  the  base  of  the  mountains 
for  about  8  miles  Button  creek  is  reached,  this  stream  losing  its  water 
in  Cooper  lake.  On  June  12,  1891,  the  discharge  was  nearly  22  second- 
feet,  but  by  the  latter  part  of  August  this  as  well  as  the  two  creeks  above 
named  had  become  dry.1  A  number  of  ditches  have  been  taken  out  of 
these  streams,  most  of  these  being  from  1  to  6  miles  in  length.  The 
largest  canals  are  those  taken  from  Laramie  river,  heading  at  or  below 
the  canyon  and  continuing  along  the  river  toward  the  town  of  Laramie, 
one  of  these  being  over  25  miles  in  length.  The  waters  of  all  the  small 
streams  are  being  utilized  during  the  summer,  and  it  is  probable  that 
some  of  the  floods  of  spring  will  be"  saved  in  order  to  increase  the  acreage 
which  can  be  watered  during  the  dry  season.  A  gauging  of  the  amount 
of  water  in  Laramie  river  at  the  town  of  that  name  was  made  on  Octo- 
ber 5,  1892,  at  which  time  there  was  found  only  26  second-feet.  This 
represents  mainly  the  excess  or  seepage  water  from  the  canals  covering 
laud  in  the  vicinity.  Twenty  days  later  the  flow  had  increased  to  about 
63  second-feet  as  shown  by  a  measurement  made  by  the  state  engineer. 

After  passing  through  or  around  the  Laramie  hills  the  river  flows 
easterly  out  upon  the  Great  Plains,  receiving  about  18  miles  above  -its 
mouth  Chugwater  creek,  which  flows  in  from  the  south  through  a  broad, 
fertile  valley.  This  latter  creek  flows  northerly  along  the  eastern  front 
of  Laramie  hills,  being  formed  by  the  union  of  small  creeks  which  drain 

1  First  biennial  report  of  the  state  engineer  to  the  governor  of  Wyoming,  1891  and  1892.    Cheyenne, 
Wyo.,  1892.    Appendix,  pp.  xvm,  xx. 


NEWELL.]  NORTH    PLATTE    IN    NEBRASKA.  81 

this  elevated  land.  Irrigation  is  carried  on  along  the  stream,  the  water 
supply  being  completely  utilized,  at  least  during  the  dry  season.  In 
the  fertile  valley  of  the  Laramie  are  some  of  the  finest  irrigated  lands 
of  the  state,  producing  large  crops  each  year. 

LOWER   NORTH   PLATTE. 

Under  this  heading  may  be  included  that  part  of  the  river  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Sweetwater  down  to  the  junction  of  the  South  Platte, 
comparatively  little  water  being  used  from  the  main  stream,  as  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  divert  it.  There  is,  however,  a  practically  unlimited  amount 
of  arable  land  along  the  river,  which,  except  for  grazing,  is  worthless 
without  irrigation.  The  side  streams,  which  come  in  mainly  from  the 
south,  are  completely  utilized,  and  more  land  would  be  brought  under 
cultivation  along  the  course  of  each  if  water  could  be  had.  Below  the 
Laramie  river  the  principal  tributaries  are  Eawhide  creek  and  Horse 
creek,  both  of  which  discharge  small  quantities  of  water,  except  dur- 
ing floods.  Horse  creek  risesin  the  Laramie  hills,  south  of  Chugwater, 
the  various  streams  which  go  to  make  it  up  flowing  out  easterly  upon 
the  plains.  On  the  highlands  in  this  vicinity  farming  without  irriga- 
tion has  been  attempted  with  some  success,  but  no  dependence  can  be 
placed  upon  the  crops  coming  to  maturity  every  year. 

At  about  the  place  where  the  North  Platte  crosses  into  Nebraska,  and 
at  various  points  below  this,  are  the  headworks  of  large  irrigating  ca- 
nals, some  of  them  in  operation,  others  in  various  stages  of  construction. 
These  cover  lauds  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  the  greater  number  of 
irrigation  works  being,  however,  on  the  south  side.  In  addition  surveys 
have  been  made  for  great  systems,  which,  if  carried  out,  will  involve  the 
expenditure  of  millions  of  dollars.  The  object  in  view  in  these  large 
schemes  is  to  mount  the  bluffs  bordering  the  bottom  lands  along  the 
river  and  thus  carry  out  water  upon  the  plains.  These  bluff's  rise 
abruptly  to  heights  of  300  feet  and  over,  so  that  if  the  project  is  prac- 
ticable the  canal  lines  must  be  very  long  and  expensive.  The  soil, 
however,  on  the  plains  is  doubtless  better  than  that  in  the  valley,  being 
in  places  less  sandy  and  without  an  excess  of  alkaline  salts.  The  val- 
ley or  bottom  lands  along  the  river  are  being  brought  under  cultiva- 
tion by  irrigation,  there  being  probably  a  dozen  canals  already  in  use. 
In  this  part  of  the  Platte  drainage  basin,  however,  corn,  wheat,  and 
other  cereals  are  usually  successfully  raised  without  the  application  of 
water. 

The  large  amount  of  water  available  in  the  North  Platte  renders 
possible  the  successful  operation  of  extensive  systems  of  irrigation 
which  can  be  made  to  cover  many  thousand  acres  of  fertile  bottom  land 
even  if  the  bluffs  can  not  be  surmounted.  Measurements  of  the  dis- 
charge of  the  river  have  been  made  at  various  points  by  the  state  en- 
gineer of  Wyoming  and  also  by  topographers  of  the  U.  S.  Geological 
13  GEOL.,  PT.  in C 


82 


WATER   SUPPLY   FOR    IRRIGATION. 


Survey.  These  have  been  mainly  at  Douglas,  in  Converse  county, 
Wyoming,  70  miles  or  more  above  the  mouth  of  Laramie  river,  also  at 
Fairbanks,  Laramie  county,  about  15  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Laramie 
river,  and  at  points  in  Nebraska  from  near  the  state  line  down  to  the 
town  of  North  Platte,  at  the  junction  of  this  river  with  the'  South 
Platte.  The  following  table  gives  the  results  of  these  measurements : 


Date. 

Locality. 

Drainage 
area  in 
square 
miles. 

Discharge 
in  secona- 
feet. 

June    3  1891 

14  665 

10  130 

Oct     13,  1891 

16  775 

579 

Dec.     4,  1891 

14  665 

807 

Nov.    5,1892 

do    

14  665 

595 

Sept.  14  1892 

North  Platte,  Nebr      ....                                                         .   . 

28  250 

770 

Oct.      8,  1892 

25  267 

335 

Nov.     2,  1892 

North  Platte,  Nebr  

28  250 

1,070 

Nov.  22,  1892 

.     ..do    

28  250 

1,  370 

These  gaugings  show  that  during  the  latter  part  of  the  year  the  dis- 
charge may  fall  below  500  second-feet,  but  even  with  this  minimum 
quantity  canals  of  considerable  size  can  be  successfully  operated,  espe- 
cially if  they  take  water  from  points  along  the  stream  at  distances  of 
from  10  to  20  miles  from  each  other.  The  channel  of  the  river  and  the 
adjacent  low  lands  are  underlain  by  pervious  sands  and  gravels  con- 
taining large  volumes  of  water,  and  even  if  one  irrigating  system  takes 
all  of  the  available  water  at  a  given  point  it  is  probable  that  at  a  dis- 
tance of  10  miles  or  more  below  there  will  be  found  flowing  a  stream 
of  considerable  size  due  to  the  return  of  the  ground  water  to  the  sur- 
face. The  gaugiugs  of  this  river  made  by  Mr.  A.  M.  Van  Auken,  men- 
tioned in  the  preceding  report,1  doubtless  give  an  exaggerated  idea  of 
the  low- water  discharge,  and  in  the  light  of  later  official  measurements 
are  considered  to  be  misleading.  The  observations  of  river  height 
made  by  him  serve,  however,  to  illustrate  the  relative  fluctuations  of  the 
river  and  are  therefore  given  in  the  accompanying  diagram,  Fig.  57. 

SOUTH   PLATTE,   ABOVE   DENVER, 

The  South  Platte  heads  behind  the  Front  range  of  the  Rocky  moun- 
tains, its  upper  waters  coming  from  the  South  Park,2  which  in  many 
respects  resembles  the  region  from  which  come  the  higher  tributaries 
of  the  North  Platte.  The  Park  range,  rising  to  heights  of  13,000  feet 
and  upward,  on  the  west  and  the  Colorado  Front  range  on  the  east 
receive  a  large  amount  of  snow  during  the  winter,  which,  melting, 
feeds  numerous  small  streams  flowing  into  the  park.  The  altitude  of 
the  valley  lands  ranges  from  8,000  to  10,000  feet,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
only  a  few  of  the  hardier  cereals  can  be  raised.  Various  kinds  of  grass, 
however,  grow  luxuriantly,  especially  if  water  is  applied  during  the 

1  Twelfth  annual  report  of  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pt.  2,  Irrigation,  pp.  239,  240. 
*  TJ.  S.  Geol.  and  Geog.  Survey  Terr.,  Hayrten,  1876,  pp.  323-328. 


DISCHARGE    OF    ARIZONA    STREAMS. 
GILA  RIVER. 

[Gauging  station  at  Buttes,  Arizona.     Drainage  area,  13,750  square  miles.] 


95 


Year. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May.  June. 

i 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov.    Dec. 

Annual. 

1889  .  .  . 

Secjt. 

Secjt. 

Secjt. 

Sec.ft. 

Sec.  ft.'  Sec.ft. 

Sec.ft. 

Secjt. 
115 
3,137 

Sec.ft. 
128 

Sec.ft. 
157 

Sec.ft. 
212 

Sec.ft. 
275 

Sec.  ft. 

1890  

680 

578 

387 

238 

87         28 

130 



Means  

680 

578 

387 

238 

87         28 

130 

1,626 

128 

157 

212 

275;          377 

SALT  RIVER. 
[Gauging  station1  at  Arizona  dam,  Arizona.     Drainage  area,  12,260  square  miles.] 


1888  

*350 

*350 
521 
2,  339 

331 

440 
2,768 

842 
576 
4,717 

6,698 
5,686 
6,259 

1889  

5,947j  2,005 
4,98210,097 

8,745 
6,421 

3,975 

1,840 

1,039 
914 

470 
511 

495       417 
524   3,885 

2,576 
3,771 

1890 

Means  

5,465 

6,351 

7,583 

2,908 

977 

491 

510   1,551 

1,070 

1,179 

2,045 

6,214 

3,074 

PROSSER  CREEK. 
[Gauging  station  at  Boca,  California.     Drainage  area,  55  square  miles.] 


9  

*100 

259 

110 

17 

3 

2 

1 

| 

K)  

340 

817 

580 

382 

102 

57 

42    38 

220 

538 

345 

''00 

53 

•JO 

49    sa 

LITTLE  TRUCKEE  RIVEK. 
[Gauging  station  at  Boca,  California.    Drainage  area,  186  square  miles.] 


189(1  

958 

1,998 

1,491 

749 

200 

07 

86 

TRUCKEE  RIVER. 
[Gauging  station  at  Boca,  California.    Drainage  area,  887  square  miles.] 


1890 


637 


2,751 


5,275 


4,291 


1,870       736 

513 

555 

(Gauging  station  at  Vista,  Nevada.    Drainage  area,  1,519  square  miles.] 


1890  .  . 

4,496 

5,990 

4,162 

2  198 

952 

682 

742 

765 

750 

189]   

*700 

*650 

*650 

1  523 

2  765 

1  905 

945 

485 

558 

561 

503 

508 

1892  

593 

505 

723 

854 

937 

Means  

647 

578 

687 

2,291 

3,  231 

3,034 

1,  572 

719 

620 

652 

634 

629 

1,275 

EAST  CARSON  RIVER. 
[Gauging  station  at  Rodenbah,  Nevada.    Drainage  area,  414  square  miles.] 


1890  .  .  . 

1  026 

2  654 

2  430 

1  789 

597 

415 

386 

384 

379 

1891 

388 

402 

783 

452 

1  445 

1  3°8 

618 

408 

388 

385 

385 

438 

619 

1892  

390 

388 

422 

478 

1  226 

1  158 

506 

413 

414 

416 

414 
»i* 

1  097 

610 

Means  

389 

395 

603 

652 

1,775 

1,639 

971 

473 

406 

396 

395 

638 

728 

Estimated. 


Data  from  Samuel  A.  Davis,  C.  E.,  Phoenix.  Oregon. 


96  WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 

WEST  CARSON  RIVER, 
f  Gauging  station  at  Woodfords,  California.    Drainage  area,  70  square  miles.] 


Year. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

M»y. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Annual. 

1890     

SecSt. 

Secjt. 

Sec.ft. 

Sec.ft. 
284 
127 

Sec.ft. 
657 
534 

Sec.ft.  Sec.ft. 
614!      380 
338       130 

Secjt. 
135 
65 

Sec.ft. 
75 
41 

Sec.ft. 
67 
48 

Secjt. 
49 
43 

Secjt. 
53 
47 

Sec.ft. 

1891    

52 
45 

48 
46 

61 
65 

128 

1892  

Means  

49 

47 

63 

206 

596 

476 

255 

100 

58 

58 

46 

50 

167 

BEAR  RIVER. 
[Gauging  station  at  Battle  Creek,  Idaho.    Drainage  area,  4,500  square  miles.] 


1889  

355 

487 

565 

1890   

875 

809 

1,271 

2,978 

5,199 

4,074 

1,582 

1,000 

843 

854 

783 

748 

1  751 

1891  

690 

780 

790 

1,623 

2,  652 

2,245 

1,288 

835 

798 

980 

957 

1,053 

1,224 

1892 

800 

855 

1  304 

1  824 

2  710 

4  446 

2  345 

1,025 

793 

780 

687 

880 

1  537 

Means  

788 

815 

1,122 

2,142 

3,520 

3,588 

1.738 

954 

812 

742 

728 

812 

1,480 

[Gauging  station  at  Collinston,  Utah.     Drainage  area,  6,000  square  miles.] 


1889 

*800 
6,234 
3,595 
5,660 

362 

3,250 
1,562 
3,037 

417 
1,754 
938 
1.195 

509 

1,344 
986 
1,000 

728 
1,544 
1,235 
1,131 

848 
1,403 
1,262 
1,195 

1,395 
1,243 
1,216 
1,235 

1890  

*1,  500 
1,000 
1,202 

*1,  000 
1.308 
1,209 

3,188 
1,766 
2,037 

4,953 

2,729 
2,397 

7,924 
4,569 
3,869 

2,945 
1,847 
2,097 

1891 

1892  

Means  

1,234 

1,  172 

2,330 

3,360 

5,454 

4,072 

2,051 

1,076 

960 

1,135 

1,180 

1.272 

2,108 

OGDEN  RIVER. 
[Gauging  station  at  Powder  Mills,  Utah.    Drainage  area,  360  square  miles.] 


1889 

50 

52 

89 

105 

421 

1890 

382 

680 

978 

1,449 

1,818 

910 

458 

312 

206 

265 

255 

*240 

663 

Means  

382 

680 

978 

1,449 

1,818 

910 

458 

l&l 

129 

177 

180 

331 

639 

WEBER  RIVER. 
[Gauging  station  at  Uinta,  Utah.    Drainage  area,  1,600  square  miles.] 


1889 
1890 
1891 
1892 


) 

181 

208 

430 

o 

457 

547 

1  091 

2  184 

4,528 

2,017 

549 

280 

265 

33  1 

298 

290 

1  070 

1     

303 

461 

625 

1  502 

2,752 

1,621 

844 

338 

402 

599 

573 

534 

880 

2      

599 

695 

800 

900 

2  705 

2,867 

819 

239 

187 

240 

357 

476 

907 

Means  — 

453 

568 

839 

1,529 

3,328 

2,168 

738 

286 

285 

338 

359 

432 

944 

AMERICAN  FORK. 
[Gauging  station  at  bridge  above  town  of  American  Fork,  Utah.    Drainage  area,  66  square  miles.  J 


1889 

| 

38 

30 

33 

30 

67 

1890  

62 

72 

117 

*380,  *666'  *208 

*45 



Means  

62 

72 

117 

38C   666   208 

45 

38 

30 

33 

30 

67 

146 

'  Estimated. 


NKWELL.]  DISCHARGE    OF    UTAH    STREAMS. 

PROVO  RIVER. 
[Gauging  station  in  canyon  above  Provo,  Utah.    Drainage  area,  640  square  miles.] 


97 


Tear. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Annual 

1889  

Sec.ft. 

Sec.ft. 

Secjt. 

Sec.jt. 

Secjt. 

Sec.ft. 

Secjt. 
150 

Secjt. 
145 

Secjt. 
150 

Secft. 
180 

Sec.ft. 
224 

Sec.ft. 
384 

Sec.ft. 

1890       

305 

377 

519 

840 

1  926 

1  184 

314 

252 

244 

304 

303 

293 

1891      ...  . 

255 

311 

492 

478 

1  226 

1  190 

423 

260 

314 

364 

380 

343 

1892    

330 

351 

361 

377 

1  079 

1  511 

441 

201 

201 

24] 

279 

257 

469 

Means  

296 

346 

457 

565 

1,410 

1,295 

332 

215 

227 

272 

296 

319 

503 

SPANISH  FORK. 
[Gauging  station  at  canyon  above  town  of  Spanish  Fork,  Utah.    Drainage  area,  670  square  miles.] 


1889  

1  

50 

62 

53 

67 

1890  

68 

76 

143 

387 

777 

205   114 

64 

63 

64 

50 

50 

172 

Meana  

68 

76 

143 

387 

777 

205   114 

1 

64 

57 

63 

52 

59 

172 

SEVIER  RIVER. 
[Gauging  station  at  Leamington,  Utah.    Drainage  area,  5,595  square  miles.] 


1889   

48 

53 

111 

274 

395 

1890    

625 

713 

630 

720 

1  705 

1  250 

346 

153 

157 

310 

373 

509 

625 

1891   

735 

772 

618 

503 

1,114 

952 

297 

195 

175 

202 

312 

551 

535 

1892  

1,016 

931 

738 

232 

250 

718 

88 

53 

49 

53 

117 

570 

401 

Means  

792 

805 

662 

487 

1,023 

973 

244 

112 

108 

169 

269 

506 

513 

II  KXRY  FORK. 
[Ganging  station  at  ferry,  1  mile  above  mouth  Falls  river,  Idaho.    Drainage  area,  931  square  miles.] 


1890    

1,200 

1,250 

1,300 

1,875 

4,580 

2,270 

1,550 

1,450 

3,314 

1,280 

1,280 

1,280 

1,719 

1891  

1,280 

1,280 

1,280 

1,516 

2,184 

1,801 

Meana  

1,240 

1,265 

1,290 

1,696 

3,382 

2,036 

1,550 

1,450 

1,314 

1,280 

1,280 

1,280 

1,589 

FALLS  RIVER. 
[Gauging  station  at  canyon,  5  miles  above  mouth  of  river,  Idaho.    Drainage  area,  594  square  miles.] 


1890 

1  730 

3  342 

2  706 

1  669 

971 

774 

660 

541 

520 

1891 

509 

450 

450 

606 

1  765 

1  681 

1  131 

607 

520 

520 

520 

520 

773 

Means  

509 

450 

450 

1,168 

2.554 

2,194 

1,400 

789 

647 

590 

531 

520 

984 

TETON  RIVER. 
[Gauging  station  at  Chase's  ranch,  near  Berry,  Idaho.    Drainage  area,  967  square  miles.] 


1890 

740 

2  730 

2  812 

2,  130 

678 

462 

475 

450 

459 

1891  

400 

465 

450 

630 

1,402 

1,661 

1,  050 

547 

450 

444 

*425 

*425 

696 

1892  

*400 

*425 

450 

575 

1,911 

3,845 

2,780 

758 

488 

471 

450 

*450 

1,084 

Means  

400 

445 

450 

648 

2,014 

2,773 

1,987 

661 

467 

464 

442 

445 

933 

13   GEOL,.,  PT.  Ill- 7 


98 


WATER   SUPPLY   FOR   IRRIGATION. 

SNAKE  BIVEE. 


[Gauging  station  at  Idaho  Falls,  formerly  known  as  Eagle  Eock,  Idaho.    Drainage  area,  10,100  square 

miles.] 


Tear. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Secjt. 
2,  737 
4,207 
4,100 

Dec. 

Annual 

1889 

Sec.ft. 

Secjt. 

Sec.ft. 

Se:.ft. 

Sec.ft. 

Secjt. 

Secjt. 
5,184 
19,  970 
24,  069 

Sec.ft. 
2,594 
7,875 
6,463 

Sec.ft. 
2,300 
4,  934 
4,312 

Secjt. 
2,425 
4,552 
4,156 

Secjt. 
2,601 
3,900 
*4,  000 

Sec.ft. 

1890  

*2,  666 
*3,  000 

*2,  666 
*3,  000 

2,000 
3,900 

5,702 
3,760 

35,  606  34,  870 
18,387.41,357 

10,  635 
10,  025 

1892 

Means  — 

2,500 

2,500 

2,950 

4,731 

26,  897 

38,  114 

16,  374 

5,977 

3,849 

3,711 

3,681 

3,500 

9,  565 

OWYHEE  EIVEE. 
[Gauging  station  at  Kigsby,  near  Ontario,  Oregon.    Drainage  area,  9,875  square  miles.] 


L890 

6,140 
3,313 
3,900 

6,558 
4,984 
13,  466 

5,913 
3,114 
13,  082 

1,403 
1,267 
2,980 

343 

448 
948 

179 
232 
594 

170 
317 
506 

170  221 
325  376 
570J  783 

309 
320 
800 

L891 

360 
320 

932 
1,250 

1,332 
3,268 

L892  

Means  

340 

1,091 

4,451 

8,336 

7,362 

1,883 

580 

335 

331 

355:  460 

476 

2,162 

MALHEUE  EIVEE. 
[Gauging  station  at  Vale,  Oregon.    Drainage  area,  9,900  square  miles.] 


1890 

2,912 

2,770 

1,627 

254 

43 

17 

15 

44 

118 

83 

1891 

88 

319 

703 

511 

217 

78 

30 

26 

23 

Means  

88 

319 

1,808 

1,641 

922 

166 

37 

22 

19 

44 

118 

83 

439 

WEISEE  EIVEE. 
[Gauging  station  at  canyon  above  town  of  "Weiser,  Idaho.    Drainage  area,  1,670  square  miles.] 


1890             

5,773 

4,792 

4,882 

1,792 

590 

138 

103 

166 

222 

396 

1891             

292 

678 

2,855 

1,777 

1,  331 

703 

Means  

292 

678 

4,314 

3,285 

3,107 

1,248 

590 

138 

103 

166 

222 

396 

1,228 

ANNUAL  DISCHAEGE. 


Eiver. 

Year 
ending  — 

Discharge. 

Total 
for  year. 

Drainage 
area. 

Eun  off. 

Maxi- 
mum. 

Mini- 
mum. 

Mean. 

Depth. 

Per 

square 
mile. 

WestGallatin  

Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1892 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec..  1891 
Dec.,  1892 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1892 
Dec.,  1889 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec..  1891 

Sec.  feet. 
3,800 
2,975 
6,800 
6,420 
4,620 
5,940 
675 
12,  500 
16,  355 
4,085 
11,  915 
8,975 
15,  500 
1,960 
1,804 
5.060 

Sec.  feet. 
320 
370 
400 
1,285 
1,070 
1,240 
40 
1,742 
1,742 
160 
510 
285 
590 
33 
37 
32 

Sec.  feet. 
871 
880 
1,123 
2,068 
1,872 
1,844 
148 
4,307 
5,503 
715 
3,181 
2,421 
3,202 
283 
335 
390 

Acre-feet. 
630,  604 
637,320 
815,  253 
1,  494,  513 
1,  354,  328 
1,  338,  670 
107,  249 
3,  118,  268 
3,  984,  272 
517,  676 
2,  303,  044 
1,  752,  804 
2,  324,  524 
204,  868 
242,  540 
283.  124 

Sq.  miles. 
850 

Inches. 
14-0 
14-0 
18-0 
13-4 
12-2 
12-0 
1-5 
3-3 
4-4 
8-2 
16-0 
12-2 
16-2 
3-6 
4-3 
5-0 

Sec.ft. 
1-03 
1-03 
1-32 
•99 
•90 
•88 
•11 
•24 
•31 
•61 
1-18 
•90 
1-19 
•27 
•33 
•37 

2,085 

Eed  Eock  

1,330 
17,  615 

Missouri  

Sun  

1,175 

2,700 

Yellowstone  

Cache  la  Poudre  

1,  060 

NEWELL.] 


TOTAL   DISCHARGE. 

ANNUAL  DISCHARGE— Continue 


99 


River. 

Tear 
ending  — 

Discharge. 

Total 
for  year. 

Drainage 
area. 

Run  off. 

Maxi- 
mum. 

Mini- 
mum. 

Mean. 

Depth. 

Per 
square 
mile. 

Arkansas  at  Canyon 
City     

Dec.,  1888 
Dec.,  1889 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1892 
Dec.,  1886 
Dec.,  1887 

Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1892 

Dec.,  1889 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1892 

Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1892 
Aug.,  1890 
Dec.,  1889 
Dec.,  1890 
Mar.,  1891 
Dec.,  1891 
Mar.,  1891 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1892 
Mar.,  1891 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1892 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1892 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1892 
July,  1890 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1892 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1892 
Dec.,  1890 
Mar.,  1891 
Dec.,  1891 
Mar.,  1891 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1892 
Dec.,  1890 
Dec.,  1892 
Mar.,  1891 
Dec.,  1891 
Dec.,  1892 
Feb.,  1891 
Sept.,  1891 
Feb.,  1891 
June.  1891 

See.  feet. 
2,760 
2,620 
3,270 
4,230 
4,750 
7,659 
6,510 

5,930 
5,650 
4,710 

5,660 
6,071 
8,550 
6,665 

7,200 
16,  620 
10,050 
6,330 
33,  794 
143,  288 
7,510 
3,285 
4,260 
1,884 
2,590 
1,284 
740 
5,980 
3,030 
5,260 
8,220 
5,000 
6,260 
2,178 
5,465 
4.655 
5,755 
885 
2,260 
1,704 
1,780 
1,040 
2,329 
1,386 
1,222 
7,710 
4,440 
2,790 
4,445 
2,360 
5,270 
50,  450 
54,300 
11,230 
10,000 
18,  000 
4,445 
2,  820 
11,  220 
9,300 

See.  feet. 
430 
190 
180 
325 
345 
400 
400 

307 
290 
290 

181 
260 
225 
140 

40 
0 
0 
•11 
319 
397 
400 
370 
375 
375 
290 
42 
34 
270 
690 
600 
1,000 
825 
1,000 
215 
200 
240 
100 
6 
200 
200 
200 
50 
150 
140 
48 
1,120 
450 
450 
400 
400 
450 
2,000 
2,250 
170 
200 
320 
15 
15 
80 
80 

Sec.  feet. 
860 
433 
874 
1,012 
889 
1,441 
1,323 

1,242 
1,403 
812 

1,032 
1,467 
1,855 
1,240 

1,327 
2,653 
1,285 
503 
2,576 
3,771 
1,895 
980 
970 
619 
610 
206 
128 
1,751 
1,224 
1,537 
2,945 
1,847 
2,097 
663 
1,070 
880 
907 
146 
572 
503 
469 
172 
625 
535 
401 
1,719 
1,194 
773 
1,021 
696 
1,084 
10,  635 
10,  025 
1,656 
1,332 
3,268 
698 
187 
1,652 
771 

Acre-feet. 
622,  640 
313,  492 
632,  776 
732,  688 
645,  378 
1,043,284 
957,  852 

899,  208 
1,  015,  772 
589,  480 

747,  168 
1,  062,  048 
1,  343,  020 
900,  190 

960,  748 
1,  920,  772 
933,  159 
364,  172 
1,  865,  024 
2,  730,  204 
1,  371,  980 
709,  520 
702,  280 
448,  156 
442,  8tt6 
149,  144 
92,  672 
1,  267,  724 
886,  176 
1,115,801 
2,  132,  180 
1,  337,  228 
1,  522,  333 
480,  012 
774,  680 
637,  120 
658,446 
105,  704 
414,  128 
364,  172 
340,  475 
124,  528 
452,  500 
387,  340 
291,  110 
1,244,566 
864,  456 
559,  652 
739,  204 
503,  904 
786,  941 
7,  699,  740 
7,  277,  749 
1,  198,  944 
964,  368 
2,  372,  446 
505.  352 
135,  368 
1,  196,  048 
558,  202 

Sq.  miles. 
3,060 

Inches. 
3-8 
1-9 
3-9 
4-5 
4-0 
4-2 
3-9 

12-0 
13-6 
6-9 

2-0 
2-8 
3-5 
2-4 

•60 
1-2 
•6 
•50 
2-8 
4-2 
17-0 
8-8 
31-8 
20-4 
20-1 
40-0 
24-8 
5-3 
3-7 
4-6 
6-6 
4-2 
4-8 
25-0 
9-1 
7-5 
7-7 
30-0 
12-1 
10-7 
9-0 
3-5 
1-5 
1-3 
1-0 
25-0 
27-2 
17-6 
14-4 
9-8 
15-3 
14-2 
13-5 
2-3 
1-9 
4-5 
•96 
•26 
13-4 
6-3 

Sec.  ft. 
•28 
•14 
•29 
•33 
•29 
•31 
•29 

•89 
1-00 
•58 

•15 
•21 
•26 
•18 

•044 
•088 
•043 
•037 
•21 
•31 
1-25 
•65 
2-35 
1-50 
1-47 
2-94 
1-83 
•39 
•27 
•34 
•49 
•31 
•35 
1-84 
•67 
•55 
•57 
2-22 
•89 
•79 
•73 
•26 
•11 
•10 
•07 
1-84 
2-01 
1-30- 
1-06 
•72 
1-12 
)-05 
1-00 
•17 
•14 
•33 
•07 
•02 
•99 
•4t 

Arkansas  at  Pueblo. 

Rio  Grande  at  Del 
Norte,  Colorado.. 

Rio  Grande  at  Em- 
budo,  New  Mexico. 

Rio  Grande   at   El 
Paso,  Texas  

4,600 

1,400 

7,000 

30,  000 

Gila  .  . 

13,  750 
12,260 

Salt  

Truckee,  Vista  

1,519 

East  Carson  

414 

70 

Bear  at  Battle  Creek  . 
Bear  at  Collinston  .  . 
Ogden  

4,500 

6,000 

360 
1,600 

Weber  

American  Fork  
Provo  

66 
640 

Spanish  Fork    .  

670 
5,595 

Sevier  

Henry 

931 
594 

Falls...     . 

Teton  . 

967 

Snake 

10,  100 

Owyhee  

9,875 

Mallieur  

9,900 

Weiser  

1,670 

NEWELL.] 


FLUCTUATION    OF    PLATTE    RIVER. 


83 


dry  season.  Along  each  of  the  small  streams,  wherever  ditches  can  be 
successfully  located  at  small  expense,  irrigation  is  being  carried  on  and 
large  crops  of  hay  are  obtained. 

The  water  supply  of  the  South  park  is  relatively  large  and  is  freely 
used  upon  the  hay  lauds.    In  a  few  instances  the  number  of  ditches 


Fig.  57.— Diagram  of  daily  fluctuations  ot  North  Platte  river,  Wyoming,  1887  to  J890. 

has  been  so  greatly  increased  that  there  is  scarcity  during  the  dry  sea- 
son, and  it  is  possible  that  attempts  will  be  made  to  obviate  this  by 
the  construction  of  reservoirs.  In  view  of  the  great  and  increasing 
deficiency  of  water  farther  down  the  stream  it  seems  imperative  to 
utilize  all  possible  methods  of  saving  water  in  these  elevated  regions- 


84 


WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 


The  tributaries  of  the  South  Platte  in  the  park  flow  in  a  general 
southeasterly  direction,  then  turn  toward  the  north  and  pass  out  in 
deep  canyons  through  the  Front  range.  A  few  measurements  of  these 
streams  were  made  in  1876  by  topographers  of  the  Hayden  survey. 
These  show  that  on  July  3  the  Middle  fork  of  the  South  Platte,  at  a 
point  about  6  miles  belosv  Fairplay,  discharged  388  second -feet,  and  at 
Hartzell's  ranch,  above  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Platte,  on  June  29,  the 
discharge  was  3G7  second-feet.  Further  down,  below  the  mouth  of 
Twin  creek,  the  discharge,  on  June  23,  was  1,015  second-feet,  and  at  the 
foot  of  the  canyon,  on  September  8,  was  1,400  second-feet.1  A  continu- 
ous record  of  the  height  of  the  water  flowing  in  the  river  was  begun 
by  the  state  engineer  of  Colorado2  on  July  12,  1887,  at  a  station  near 
Deansbury  in  the  canyon  of  the  river,  about  26  miles  above  Denver, 
and  where  the  drainage  area  is  2,600  square  miles.  The  results  of  the 


Tig.  58.— Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  South  Platte  river  near  Deanshury,  Colo.,  1887  to  1890. 

computations  of  daily  discharge  are  shown  in  the  tables,  p.  93,  and 
are  graphically  given  in  Fig.  58. 

Beginning  at  and  below  the  canyon  arid  extending  down  toward 
Denver  are  several  canals  which  in  size  rank  among  the  first  in  the 
United  States.  The  most  extensive  of  these  is  that  of  the  Northern 
Colorado  Irrigating  Company,  commonly  known  as  the  English  High, 
line.  This  extends  northeasterly  from  the  river,  covering  land  south 
and  east  of  the  city,  and  having  a  total  length  of  85  miles.  Other 
canals  of  less  size  and  length  carry  out  water  from  the  river  on  the 

1  TJ.  S.  Geol.  and  Geog.  Survey  Terr.,  Hayden,  1876,  rept.  of  Henry  Gannett,  p.  324. 

2  Fourth  Bien.  Rept.  state  engineer  of  Colorado  for  1887  and  1888,  Denver,  Colo.,  1889,  p.  63 ;  also  Fifth 
Bien.  Kept,  of  same  for  1891,  p.  19. 


NEWELL.] 


MEASUREMENTS  OF  SOUTH  PLATTE. 


85 


same  side  below  this  and  also  on  the  western  edge  of  the  valley.  In 
the  aggregate  the  capacity  of  these  canals  exceeds  the  discharge  of 
the  river,  and  the  question  of  distribution  of  water  in  the  dry  season 
becomes  a  matter  of  first  importance.  Asa  result  of  scarcity  of  water 
there  have  been  losses  of  crops,  the  yield  per  acre  being  in  some  years 
one  half  or  one-fourth  that  of  seasons  in  which  water  was  plenty. 

Below  the  mouth  of  the  canyon  the  principal  tributaries  on  the  west 
are  Dear  and  Bear  creeks  and  on  the  east  Cherry  creek,  the  latter 
draining  a  part  of  the  relatively  low  divide  between  the  Arkansas  and 
Platte.  Along  each  of  these  streams  ditches  and  canals  have  been 
built,  utilizing  the  available  water,  the  capacity  of  the  ditches  being  in 
excess  of  the  summer  flow.  The  discharge  of  Bear  creek,  at  a  point  2£ 
miles  above  Morrison,  ranges  from  20  to  200  second-feet,  averaging 
about  50  second-feet,  the  drainage  area  being  141  square  miles.  The 


14  a< 


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V 


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MOO 


300 


00 


06 


FIG.  59.— Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  South  Platte  river  at  Denver,  Colorado,  1889  and  1890. 

discharge  in  general  follows  that  of  the  neighboring  streams  and  a  dia- 
gram of  the  fluctuations  does  not  materially  differ  from  those  given  for 
other  creeks. 

One  of  the  earliest  measurements  of  the  amount  of  water  in  the  South 
Platte  at  Denver  is  that  made  in  December,  1876,  giving  492  second- 
feet.1  The  total  drainage  area  at  this  place  is  3,870  square  miles.  A 
second  measurement,  made  about  2  miles  above  Denver,  during  low 
water  gave  204  second-feet.  Computations  of  the  daily  discharge  of 
the  river  at  a  station  at  the  foot  of  Twenty- first  street,  Denver,  have 
been  carried  on  by  the  state  engineer,  the  results  of  these  being  shown 
by  Fig.  59. 

1  U.  S.  Geol.  and  Geog.  Survey  Terr.    Hayden,  1876,  rept  of  Henry  Gannett,  p.  324 


86 


WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 


CACHE   LA   POUDRE   AND   OTHER   CREEKS. 

Below  Denver  the  South  Platte  gradually  trends  farther  and  farther 
from  the  mountains,  and  the  creeks  flowing  into  it  from  the  west  trav- 
erse a  wider  strip  of  valley  land  the  farther  they  are  to  the  north.  The 
first  stream  of  importance  below  Denver  is  Clear  creek,  and  north  of 
that  in  order  St.  Vrain  creek,  Thompson  creek,  and  Cache  la  Poudre, 
the  latter  being  the  largest.  Maps  showing  the  lower  courses  of  these 
streams  and  the  canals  taken  from  them  have  been  published  in  the 
fourth  and  fifth  biennual  reports  of  the  state  engineer  of  Colorado,  and 
a  glance  at  these  shows  the  large  number  of  canals  and  ditches  lead- 
ing out  apparently  in  the  most  confusing  manner.  As  a  rule  it  may 


10     20 

10    20 

10    20 

10     20 

10    20 

10    20 

10    20 

10    20 

10    20 

10    20 

10    20 

10     20 

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5 

1 

800 

ie  o 

D 

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$00 

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3 

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IJO 

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(00 

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hOO 

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A 

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\ 

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\^> 

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7 

s  —  • 

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100 

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V 

s_ 

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FIG.  60.— Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  Clear  creek,  Colorado,  1837  and  1888. 

be  said  that  along  all  these  streams,  as  well  as  the  main  river,  the 
aggregate  capacity  of  the  irrigating  systems  is  so  great  that  not  all  of 
them  can  receive  sufficient  water,  and  as  a  consequence  only  a  portion 
of  the  cultivated  lands  can  be  thoroughly  irrigated. 

The  earliest  records  of  water  measurement  on  Clear  creek  are  those 
quoted  in  the  Hayden  report  for  1876, l  giving  the  flood  discharge  at 
Golden  City  on  June  19  of  1,765  second-feet,  on  August  27  of  536  sec- 
ond-feet, and  on  September  3  of  374  second-feet.  In  August,  1887,  a 
permanent  station  was  established  in  the  canyon  at  a  point  about  7 
miles  above  Golden,  being  thus  above  the  heads  of  irrigating  ditches. 
The  area  drained  is  338  square  miles.  From  the  records  kept  by  the 
state  engineer  the  diagram,  Fig.  60,  has  been  prepared,  showing  the 

i  IT.  S.  Oeol.  and  fieog.  Survey  Terr.,  Hayden,  1876,  rept.  of  Henry  Gannett,  p.  325. 


NEWELL.] 


TRIBUTARIES    OF    SOUTH    PLATTE. 


87 


daily  discharge  during  the  fall  of  1887  and  the  greater  part  of  1888. 
The  most  notable  feature  on  this  plate  is  the  great  discharge  on  August 
1, 1888,  when  for  two  hours  the  river  flowed  at  the  rate  of  8,700  second- 
feet,  according  to  the  computations  of  the  state  engineer.  This  is 
typical  of  the  extraordinary  floods  which  may  happen  at  any  time,  espe- 
cially during  the  summer  season,  on  almost  any  stream  of  the  arid 
region.  These  short,  destructive  floods  are  caused  by  what  are  locally 
known  as  cloud-bursts,  immense  quantities  of  water  being  precipitated 
over  a  very  small  area.  Floods  of  a  similar  character  can  be  seen  on 
many  other  diagrams  of  discharge,  the  relative  increase  of  water,  how-' 
ever,  being  usually  less. 


80C 


60C 


2C 


B3C 


bOO 


200 


2C  0 


5»A 


FIG,  61.— Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  North  Boulder  creek,  Colorado.  1887  to  1890. 

There  are  fully  twenty-five  canals  and  ditches  of  notable  length  tak- 
ing water  from  Clear  creek  below  the  canyon,  one  of  these,  that  known 
as  the  Agricultural  ditch,  extending  around  east  and  south  of  Denver, 
while  others  cover  lower  lands  nearer  the  stream  and  follow  down  along 
the  west  side  of  the  South  Platte. 

Boulder  creek,  one  of  the  principal  tributaries  of  St.  Vrain,  is  the 
next  stream  of  importance  north  of  the  catchment  area  of  Clear  creek. 
Two  gauging  stations  have  been  established  by  the  state  engineer  of 
Colorado,  one  oti  the  South  Boulder,  the  other  on  North  Boulder,  the 
latter  being  about  4  miles  above  the  town  of  Boulder.  The  drainage 
area  is  102  square  miles.  The  results  of  the  observations  at  this  latter 
place  are  shown  in  Fig.  61.  This  exhibits  among  other  facts  a  sudden 
flood  occurring  in  August,  1890,  at  which  time  the  discharge  reached 
1,200  second-feet.  The  diagram  of  discharge  of  the  South  Boulder  is 


88 


WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 


so  similar  to  others  given  that  it  does  not  seem  desirable  to  reproduce 
it.  The  gauging  station  on  St.  Vrairi  creek,  established  in  August, 
1887,  is  located  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  below  Lyons  at  a  point  below 
the  junction  of  the  North  and  South  forks,  the  area  drained  being  209 
square  miles.  Results  obtained  at  this  place  are  shown  on  Fig.  62, 
which  in  most  respects  is  similar  to  those  previously  given. 

Big  Thompson  creek,  which  furnishes  water  for  the  lands  in  the 
vicinity  of  Lovelaud,  is  in  order  toward  the  north  the  next  stream  whose 
discharge  has  been  measured.  The  gauging  station  is  about  10  miles 
west  of  Loveland,  being  thus,  as  in  the  case  of  other  creeks,  above  the 
heads  of  irrigating  ditches.  The  drainage  area  above  this  point  is  305 
square  miles.  Fig.  63,  showing  the  discharge  for  portions  of  the  years 


CO 


oc 


33C 


IOC 


\ 


ICO 


63C 


&OO 


6£ 


&9 


FiG.  62.— Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  St.  Vrain  creek,  Colorado,  1887  to  1890. 

1887  to  1890,  inclusive,  has  been  prepared  from  data  contained  in  the 
annual  reports  of  the  state  engineer.  This  diagram  shows  a  sudden 
flood  occurring  about  ten  days  earlier  in  the  season  than  that  on  Boul- 
der creek.  These  floods,  although  not  discharging  what  would  be  con- 
sidered a  large  amount  of  water  if  distributed  during  several  days,  come 
with  such  sudden  violence  that  they  often  carry  out  bridges  and  the 
head  works  of  canals,  resulting  in  loss  to  the  farmers,  from  the  fact  that 
before  repairs  of  irrigation  works  can  be  made  a  large  part  of  the  crops 
may  be  withered  or  completely  burned  by  the  heat  of  the  sun. 

Cache  la  Poudre  creek  is  the  lowest  or  most  northerly  important  trib- 
utary of  the  South  Platte.  The  point  at  which  it  enters  the  main  river 
is  marked  by  an  abrupt  change  in  direction,  the  river,  which  up  to  this 
place  has  been  flowing  in  a  general  way  toward  the  north,  turning 
toward  the  east  in  its  course  across  the  Great  Plains.  Cache  la  Poudre 


NEWELL.] 


CACHE  LA  POUDRE  CREEK. 


89 


creek  receives  its  waters  mainly  from  the  eastern  side  of  tlie  Colorado 
Park  range,  some  of  its  tributaries  rising  near  the  headwaters  of  the 
iSTorth  Platte  and  Laramie.  It  also  receives  small  streams  from  the 
eastern  slope  of  the  Laramie  hills  not  far  from  Cheyenne.  The  water 
measurements  on  this  creek  have  been  made  at  a  place  about  a  half 
mile  above  the  mouth  of  the  canyon  and  12  miles  above  Fort  Collins, 
being  below  the  junction  of  the  Xorth  and  South  forks.  The  discharge 
at  this  locality  from  1884  to  1890  is  shown  graphically  on  PI.  LXV  of 
the  twelfth  annual  report.1  From  this  creek  are  taken  large  canals, 
covering  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Collins  and  Greeley,  the  latter 
place  being  the  locality  where  systematic  irrigation  on  a  large  scale  was 
first  tried  in  the  state. 


FIG.  63. — Diagram  of  daily  discharge  of  Big  Thompson  creek,  Colorado,  1887  to  1890. 

Besides  the  canals  and  ditches  taking  water  from  these  streams  there 
are  a  number  along  the  South  Platte  itself,  utilizing  the  supply  which 
escapes  into  the  river  as  surplus  or  seepage.  The  head  works  of  these 
are  located  at  distances  of  from  1  to  5  miles  from  each  other,  and 
although  at  one  place  the  channel  may  be  almost  dry,  yet  at  some  dis- 
tance below  there  is  sufficient  water  to  partly  fill  at  least  one  or  other 
of  the  ditches.  Crops  can  rarely  be  produced  without  irrigation  in 
this  part  of  the  Platte  basin,  about  the  only  exceptions  being  bottom 
lands  kept  moist  by  seepage  from  canals  above  them.  In  a  few  in- 
stances these  lower  lands  receive  such  a  quantity  of  seepage  water  that 
they  have  been  converted  into  meadows  or  even  into  marshes. 

The  development  of  irrigation  and  the  rapid  increase  of  area  under 


'Twelfth  Ann.  Rep.  U.  S.  Geol.  Surv.,  part  2.  Irrigation,  p.  238. 


90  WATER    SUPPLY    FOR   IRRIGATION. 

cultivation  have  taken  place  to  an  entent  such  that,  as  previously 
stated,  the  water  supply  is  inadequate  to  fill  the  demands  made  upon 
it.  As  a  method  of  relief  the  farmers  have  undertaken  the  construc- 
tion of  reservoirs  near  the  foothills,  storing  some  of  the  flood  waters  of 
spring.  The  feasibility  of  larger  systems  of  this  kind  in  the  parks  and 
small  valleys  among  the  mountains  has  been  often  discussed,  and 
movements  are  slowly  being  made  toward  the  realization  of  storage 
projects.  There  are,  however,  many  difficulties  surrounding  the  con- 
struction of  suitable  retaining  walls  and  the  recovery  and  distribution 
of  the  waters,  which  as  a  matter  of  course  must  be  brought  down  to 
the  canals  below  in  the  channel  of  the  stream,  and  in  many  cases  past 
the  head  works  of  a  large  number  of  irrigating  ditches.  Without  such 
methods  of  increasing  the  summer  flow  of  the  stream  there  can  be  little 
hope  of  extending  the  irrigated  acreage  except  by  more  careful  methods 
of  applying  water  to  the  soil  and  by  greater  thoroughness  in  all  other 
agricultural  operations. 

SOUTH   PLATTE   BELOW   GREELEY. 

After  leaving  the  junction  of  the  Cache  la  Poudre  the  South  Platte 
flows  eastward  and  then  northeasterly  through  arid  plains  toward  the 
subhumid  regions.  In  the  eastern  end  of  the  basin  near  the  junction 
with  the  North  Platte,  the  rainfall  is  sufficient  for  many  of  the  cereals 
if  these  are  properly  cultivated.  Irrigation,  however,  is  essential  for 
the  production  of  vegetables  and  fruit,  especially  on  the  lower  grounds, 
and  even  in  rainy  years  can  be  profitably  employed  by  the  farmer. 
Developments  in  this  direction,  however,  have  been  retarded  by  the 
scarcity  of  water,  the  difficulty  of  diverting  it,  and  the  fact  that  the 
settlers  can  often  make  a  living  by  what  is  called  "  dry  farming." 

In  eastern  Colorado  the  South  Platte  is  often  dry  during  the  summer, 
there  being,  however,  a  small  amount  of  water  seeping  through  the  bed. 
Irrigating  ditches  have  been  taken  out  on  both  sides  in  Weld,  Morgan, 
and  Logan  counties,  irrigating  lands  near  the  stream.  These  obtain 
ample  water  only  during  spring  floods,  and  having  once  saturated  the 
land  can  obtain  little  or  no  more  during  the  summer.  This  one  water- 
ing under  favorable  circumstances  may  suffice,  but  there  is  danger  of 
loss  of  crops  later  on.  The  streams  which  flow  into  this  part  of  the 
river  are  usually  dry  and  at  times  become  torrents,  so  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  utilize  this  irregular  supply. 

On  the  highlands  drained  by  streams  flowing  from  the  north  or  from 
the  south  agriculture  has  been  attempted,  but  owing  to  the  scarcity  of 
rainfall  has  not  been  on  the  whole  successful.  Stock-raising  is  still 
and  probably  will  be  the  principal  industry.  A  few  farmers,  coming 
without  experience  in  methods  adapted  to  a  dry  country,  have  tried 
year  after  year  to  raise  a  crop,  but  without  success,  and  finally,  having 
lost  everything,  have  been  compelled  to  go  elsewhere.  There  is  bitter 


NEWELL.]  SOUTH    PLATTE    IN    NEBRASKA.  91 

complaint  that  in  the  past  unscrupulous  persons  have  taken  advantage 
of  eastern  farmers  and  have  induced  communities  or  colonies  to  settle 
upon  lands  absolutely  arid  and  without  means  of  water  supply,  or  have 
built  extensive  canals  in  the  river  valley,  selling  water  rights  which 
are  practically  valueless. 

A  few  irrigating  ditches  have  been  dug  along  the  South  Platte  in  the 
vicinity  of  Ogallala,  Nebraska.  These  receive  water  at  the  time  of  the 
spring  floods,  but  during  the  summer  the  channel  is  usually  dry  and  no 
water  can  be  obtained  except  that  which  seeps  from  the  pervious  beds, 
an  amount  too  small  to  be  of  any  considerable  value.  As  previously 
mentioned,  hopes  have  been  entertained  that  by  means  of  deep  drains 
extending  above  the  heads  of  these  ditches  a  large  amount  of  ground 
water  could  be  had  at  all  times.  Large  sums  of  money  have  been  ex- 
pended in  the  construction  of  these  so-called  underflow  canals,  but  the 
quantity  of  water  obtained  has  at  best  been  small  relative  to  the  ex- 
pense incurred. 

Much  of  the  land  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town  of  North  Platte  is  irri- 
gated by  a  ditch  from  North  Platte  river,  covering  the  long,  narrow 
area  between  the  north  and  south  rivers.  This  locality  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  most  easterly  in  the  Platte  basin  at  which  irrigation  is 
regularly  practiced.  Further  to  the  east,  in  the  vicinity  of  Gothenburg 
and  Kearney,  are  canals  constructed  for  water  power,  from  which  it  is 
proposed  to  obtain  some  water  for  irrigation,  but  the  development  of 
this  method  of  agriculture  in  a  relatively  humid  region  is  usually  slow. 
In  this,  the  western,  part  of  Nebraska  there  are  a  number  of  streams 
which  will  undoubtedly  be  used  at  some  future  time  for  irrigation,  es- 
pecially after  the  results  obtained  along  the  North  Platte  are  more 
widely  known  and  appreciated.  Most  of  these  creeks  and  small  rivers 
flow  throughout  the  year,  being  fed  by  springs.  On  the  north  side  of 
the  North  Platte  in  Nebraska  are  several  such  streams  tributary  to  the 
river  and  so  situated  as  to  have  many  natural  advantages  for  easy  diver- 
sion of  the  water.  Among  the  most  important  of  these  are  Blue  and 
Birdwood  creeks,  both  of  these  being  remarkable  for  the  uniformity  of 
discharge  throughout  the  year.  The  quantity  of  water  in  Blue  creek 
was  measured  on  November  5,  1892,  and  found  to  be  105  second-feet. 
Birdwood  creek  on  September  24,  1892,  was  discharging  at  the  rate 
of  126  second-feet.  Besides  these  mentioned  are  other  creeks  of  smaller 
size,  having  a  low  water  flow  of  from  3  to  5  second-feet. 


TABLES  OF  MEAN  MONTHLY  AND  ANNUAL  DISCHARGE. 


These  tables  give  in  cubic  feet  per  second  the  average  discharge  by 
months  of  the  principal  streams  measured  by  this  Survey.  Some  of 
these  figures  have  already  appeared  in  connection  with  other  data. 
The  arrangement  is  that  generally  adopted  in  this  report,  beginning 
with  the  head  waters  of  the  Missouri  and  taking  the  various  streams 
in  their  order  toward  the  south,  then  those  in  the  Rio  Grande  and 
Interior  basins,  and  finally  the  rivers  flowing  into  the  Pacific  ocean. 
There  are  also  included  a  few  computations  of  monthly  discharge  made 
from  data  obtained  by  the  state  engineer  of  Colorado. 

The  following  symbols  are  used  to  denote  that  the  observations  have 
not  been  continued  throughout  the  month :  (a)  Observations  on  twenty 
days  and  upwards,  (b)  Observations  on  from  ten  to  nineteen  days. 
(c)  Observations  during  less  than  ten  days. 

WEST  GALLATIN  RIVER. 

[Gauging  station  below  month  of  Spanish  creek,  about  20  miles  southwesterly  from  Bozeman,  Mon- 
tana.   Drainage  area,  850  square  miles.] 


Tear. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

An- 
nual. 

1889  

See.ft. 

See.ft. 

See.ft. 

See.ft. 

See.ft. 

Sec.ft. 

Sec.ft. 

Secjt. 
(6)426 
761 
761 
957 

Sec.ft. 
450 
607 
583 
734 

Secjt. 
402 
591 
587 
743 

Secjt. 

*400 
506 
501 
589 

Sec.ft. 
*400 
*450 
434 
549 

Sec.ft. 

1890  

•320 
*400 
430 

*320 
*400 
429 

(c)  320 
*450 
400 

460 
*500 
*450 

2,092 
1,897 
1,488 

2,641 
2,516 
4,163 

1,388 
1,534 
2.544 

871 
880 
1,123 

1891  

1892  

Means  

383 

383 

390 

470 

1,825 

3,106 

1,488 

726 

593 

580 

499 

459 

908 

MADISON  RIVER. 

[Gauging  station  below  Hot  Springs  creek,  4  miles  from  Red  Bluff,  Montana.    Drainage  area,  2,085 

square  miles.] 


1890  

*1,  200 
1,406 
1,305 

*1,  200 
1,436 
1,504 

*1,  200  ol,  620 
1,631  1,774 
1,488,  1,295 

4,823 
3,389 
1,454 

4,977 
4,167 
4,900 

2,518 
2,045 
3,225 

1,535 
1,429 
1,519 

1,466 
1,309 
1,360 

1,498 
1,351 
1,327 

1,380 
1,400 
1,424 

1,400 
1,137 
1,324 

2,068 
1,872 
1,844 

1891  

1892  

Means  

1,303 

1,380 

1,439  1.563 

3,222 

4,681 

2,596 

1,  494 

1,378 

1,  392 

1,401 

1,287 

1,928 

MISSOURI  RIVER. 

[Gauging  station  during  1889  at  Canyon  ferry,  Montana ;  drainage  area,  15,036  square  miles.    Gaug- 
ing station  during  1890  and  1891  at  Craig,  Montana;  drainage  area,  17,615  square  miles.] 


1889 

1 

1,873 
9,  232 
3,078 

2,230 
2,379 
3,511 

2,502 
2,868 
3,802 

3,  057 

*2,  500 

1890 

*3,  000  *3,  000 
2,967^3,500 

*3,  000  64,  662 
*4,000   5,794 

10,472110,074 
9.01513,645 

5,020 
9.115 

2,216 
4,415 

2,  763]      4,  307 
*3,  200       5,  503 

1891  
Means  

2,983 

3.  250 

3,500   5,228 

9,  743  11.  859 

7.067 

3,315   2,394   2,706 

2,821       5,229 

'Estimated. 


92 


NEWELL.] 


DISCHARGE    OF    COLORADO   STREAMS. 


SUN  RIVEE. 

+ 

[Gauging  station  at  Augusta,  Montana.    Drainage  area,  1,175  square  miles.] 


Tear. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Aniiual 
Mav  to 
Octo- 
ber. 

1889         

Secjt. 

Secjt. 

Secjt. 

Sec.ft.  Secjt. 

Secjt. 

Secjt. 

Sec.ft. 
(a)213 
371 

Secjt. 
214 
304 

Sec.ft.  Secjt. 
200       191 
315       322 

Sec.ft. 
*175 
267 

Sec.ft. 

1890      

*  175 

*  175 

*  175       371    2,804 

2,342 

961 

715 

Means  

175!      175 

175       371   2,804 

2,342 

961       292 

259 

257       256 

221 

691 

YELLOWSTONE  RIVER. 
[Gauging  station  at  Horr,  Montana,  4  miles  below  Cinnabar.    Drainage  area,  2,700  square  miles.] 


1889  

61,660 
4,375 
3,442 
4,931 

1,270 
2,276 
1,641 
2,808 

976 
1,473 
1,264 
1,555 

743 
970 
891 
952 

*650 
695 
475 
*800 

1890             

*550     *550 
488     *500 
*500       570 

6585 
316 
713 

1,417 
1,086 
661 

7,  522  10,  086 
:V--'7    7,592 
3,  544  11,  201 

7,682 
6,135 
10,  180 

3,181 
2,  421 
3,202 

1891  

1892    

Means  

512 

540 

538 

1,054 

5,431 

9,  625 

7,999 

3,600 

1,999 

1,316 

889J      655 

2,846 

SOUTH  PLATTE  RIVER. 

[Gauging1  station  at  Deansbury,  Colorado,  below  junction  of  north  and  south  branches.    Drainage 

area,  2,600  square  miles.] 


1887  

*550 

550 

394 

*200 

1888  

*250 

295 

487 

552 

311 

262 

179 

*150 

323 

1889  

*1V5 

478 

460 

324 

211 

129 

180 

297 

1890  

391 

403 

520 

562 

196 

172 

374 

Means  

250 

235 

452 

471 

426 

396 

224 

175 

329 

NORTH  BOULDER  CREEK. 
[Gauging1  station  4  miles  above  Boulder,  Colorado.    Drainage  area,  102  square  miles.] 


1887  

*110 

80 

*60 

1888  

81 

164 

261 

210 

157 

80 

*60 

155 

1889 

*400 

565 

277 

97 

34 

36 

235 

1890     .  . 

*250 

341 

258 

173 

56 

33 

185 

Means  

81 

271 

389 

248 

134 

62 

47 

176 

ST.  VRAIN  CREEK. 
[Gauging1  station  one-fourth  mile  below  Lyons,  Colorado.     Drainage  area,  209  square  miles.] 


1887  

*150 

109 

*70 

109 

1868 

72 

156 

320 

208 

133 

56 

*50 

153 

1889      .  . 

*400 

371 

197 

102 

44 

39 

192 

1890    

*300 

436 

292 

179 

66 

45 

219 

Means  .  

72 

285 

375 

232 

141 

68 

51 

175 

BIG  THOMPSON  CREEK. 
[Gauging1  station  10  miles  west  of  Loveland,  Colorado.    Drainage  area,  305  square  miles.] 


1888 

62 

132 

458   275 

190 

75 

*50 

196 

1889 

*250 

382   200 

89 

49 

46 

169 

1890 

*400 

530   454 

393 

151 

67 

332 

62 

260 

•J56   309 

224 

91 

54 

208 

*  Estimated. 


1  Data  from  state  engineer  of  Colorado. 


94  WATER    SUPPLY    FOR    IRRIGATION. 

CACHE  LA  POTJDRE  CREEK. 

« 
[Gauging  station1  at  Fort  Collins,  Colorado.     Drainage  area,  1,060  square  miles.] 


Year. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May. 

June,  j  July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Annual. 

1884  

Sec/e. 

Secft. 

Sec  ft. 
667 

See.ft. 
219 
«447 
e405 
*200 
181 
113 
200 
144 
*100 

See.ft. 
2,537 
1,419 
1,309 
61,  *22 
483 
649 
1,044 
1,221 
*250 

See.ft. 
4,812 
2,  910 
1,875 
61,  401 
1,113 
1,338 
1,280 
1,900 
1,512 

Sec.ft. 
2,144 
1,857 
717 
735 
420 
514 
649 
541 
741 

Secjt. 
792 
656 
338 
307 
213 
187 
287 
228 
*200 

Sec.ft. 
305 
273 
185 
175 
109 
67 
103 
138 

Sec.ft. 
6205 
6203 
129 
*120 
*90 
69 
80 
118 

Sec.ft. 

Sec.ft. 

S'-c.fi. 

1885  

1886  

1887  

1888  

1889  

151 
82 
92 
64 

106 
79 
79 
119 

46 
85 
59 
80 

88 
61 

83 

64 

70 
79 

283 
335 

1590 

1890 

1891          

1892  

Means  

97 

96 

69 

223 

1,193 

2,  016 

924 

357 

169 

127 

78 

71 

452 

ARKANSAS  RIVER. 
[Gauging  station1  at  Canyon  city,  Colorado.     Drainage  area,  3,060  square  miles.] 


1888  

*400 

*500 

*600 

1  000 

1  440 

2,090 

1,350 

932 

605 

*500 

*500 

*400 

188P 

*300 

*300 

*300 

300 

600 

1  374 

602 

340 

920 

223 

299 

335 

1890 

310 

363 

320 

477 

2  090 

2  611 

1  571 

670 

519 

531 

522 

502 

1891     ... 

431 

474 

586 

857 

2  012 

3  291 

1  468 

951 

473 

624 

498 

476 

1892  

496 

493 

524 

522 

1  241 

2  787 

1  798 

769 

435 

511 

527 

561 

Means  

387 

426 

466 

631 

1,477 

2,430 

1,357 

732 

450 

477 

469 

455 

860 
433 
874 
1,012 
889 

813 


[Gauging  station1  at  Pueblo,  Colorado.    Drainage  area,  4,600  square  miles.] 


1885 

1  069 

3  187 

1886  

*400 

*500 

*600 

*800 

3,046 

5,569 

1,724 

1,481 

1.  372     *800 

*600 

*400 

1,441 

1887  

*400 

*400 

*500 

*600 

*2,  500 

3,477 

3,352 

1,717 

1,129     *800 

'600 

*400 

1,323 

Means  

400 

450 

550 

700 

2,205 

4,078 

2,538 

1,599 

1.250!      800 

600 

400 

1,298 

RIO  GRANDE. 
[Gauging  station1  at  Del  Norte,  Colorado.     Drainage  area,  1,400  square  miles.] 


1889  .  .  . 

278 

319 

281 

1890    

552 

79<j 

487 

913 

4,331 

3,807 

1  515 

612 

383 

470 

478 

565 

1,242 

1891     

990 

1  294 

1  280 

1,410 

3,285 

4,  146 

1,693 

663 

527 

844 

374 

*325 

1  403 

1892  

*300 

*300 

316 

1,047 

2,605 

2,  187 

740 

444 

262 

259 

360 

922 

812 

Means  

614 

797 

661 

1,123 

3,407 

3,379 

1,  316 

573 

391 

4«.i 

382 

523 

1,135 

[Gauging  station1  at  Embudo,  New  Mexico.    Drainage  area,  7,000  square  miles.] 


1889  

431 

473 

784 

2,261 

3,430 

2,922 

471 

206 

212 

283 

366 

542 

1,032 

1890  

437 

553 

682 

2,083 

4,960 

4,107 

1,593 

814 

545 

562 

616 

648 

1,467 

1891 

586 

616 

917 

2,370 

5,905 

5,040 

2,356 

933 

469 

1,681 

778 

553 

1,855 

1892       ... 

497 

596 

1  051 

2.979 

4,890 

3,146 

538 

191 

152 

202 

317 

324 

1,240 

Means  

488 

559 

858 

2,423 

4,811 

3,804 

1,239 

536 

345 

682 

520 

517 

1,399 

[Gauging  station1  at  El  Paso,  Texas.     Drainage  area,  30,000  square  miles.] 


1889 

3,116 
5,771 
11,  852 
7,093 

2,638 
4,404 
6,714 
2,943 

237 
854 
2,271 
668 

i 

71 

1890    '..    .. 

196 
451 
326 

290 
809 
476 

424 
1,866 
752 

2,190 
4,265 
3,  147 

734!       176 
662J      768 
13  

t>5 
1,488 

284 
341 

535 
344 

1,327 
2,653 
1,285 

1891        

189° 

Means  

324 

525 

1,014 

3,201 

6,958 

4,175 

1,008 

352       236|      388 

!          1 

156 

238 

1,548 

'  Estimated. 


1  Data  in  part  from  state  engineer  of  Colorado. 


